Take your children to the park this weekend, and leave them there
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Lenore Skenazy Guest blogger
Hi Folks! As our annual "Take Our Children to the Park鈥nd Leave Them There Day" draws nigh (does 鈥渘igh鈥� ever get used without the verb draw?), it's good to remember why it is so great for kids to get out and play, on their own, without a coach, program or parents to organize (or limit!) them.
The idea of the holiday is simple: On May 19 (Saturday), we take our kids, age 7 or 8 and up, to the local park at 10 a.m. That way, they meet up with other kids from the neighborhood. We wave goodbye and the kids are on their own to come up with something to do. Boredom works in their favor 鈥� eventually they start playing because not playing is so painfully dull.
By the time they鈥檙e through 鈥� it could be half an hour or half a day later 鈥� chances are they鈥檒l want to do it again. And so Sunday becomes 鈥淥ur kids are going to the park on their own鈥� day, as do 聽most days thereafter!
If you鈥檝e got younger kids 鈥� great. Go to the park and witness what your kids will be able to do in only a few years. Meantime, you鈥檙e there on the bench, creating the kind of community that reassures the parents waving their older kids goodbye.
Spread the word!
The idea is not radical. It鈥檚 simply a way to 鈥渞e-seed鈥� the all-too-empty playgrounds and parks with children. There鈥檚 no reason kids can鈥檛 play on their own. Crime is down since when we parents were kids. Diabetes and obesity 鈥� the twin scourges of sitting inside 鈥� are up. What鈥檚 more, it is safer for kids to play than not to play, and this study (if you need to wave one around) says that letting kids play unsupervised is one of the best things a parent can do for a child:
Professor Roger Mackett, who led the study, said: 鈥淎llowing children to leave the house without an accompanying adult has significant benefits. The health benefits are clear, but without action the less tangible benefits of increased independence and self-reliance will be lost.That may be a very great loss with many implications.鈥�
Fight the fear that has kept kids indoors or only in supervised programs. Go forth to Facebook and Twitter and the PTA to spread the word about Take Our Children to the Park鈥� and Leave Them There Day!聽 And let us know if you get some traction!
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