Lenore Skenazy, author of Free Range Kids, has been fighting against laws in the US that seek to punish parents who do things like let their children play in a nearby park without supervision, whose children make undue noise in the streets or who use sharp woodworking implements in kindergarten.

Does that make you chuckle a little and feel grateful you live in Australia?

Sorry to disappoint you but this terror of over-protecting children is happening in more and more pockets across our nation.

In Queensland it is illegal to ride to school on a bike under 12 years of age.

In NSW, police have been lecturing parents who let their children walk to school alone.

In WA last week, a school ban on handstands and cartwheels made news around the country.

And it is very common for schools to have a ban on things like climbing trees, or sliding down slopes, just to keep kids safe.

By preventing our kids from taking risks we risk them never growing to be independent, brave, capable, resilient and much happier.

We need to reign in our irrational fears and embrace risk as being an essential need of all children.

Source
Essential Kids

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