Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

When I Was a Kid, We Were All 'Free Range'
americanthinker.com ^ | 6/14/2015 | Claire Hawks

Posted on 06/14/2015 7:34:33 AM PDT by rktman

I'm not sure who came up with the name "free range children." The only thing I ever knew that was "free range" until recently was chicken, not children. Now it's the term used for children who are allowed to have a degree of independence by their parents.

When I was a child, we were all "free range." Our parents allowed us more and more independence the older we got based on how well we handled the responsibility. I was "free range" by the time I was three years old – not exactly my parents' choice, though.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government
KEYWORDS: freerangekids; independence; kids
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-98 next last
To: rktman

Geez, we used to ride in the back of a pickup truck.


21 posted on 06/14/2015 7:55:47 AM PDT by umgud (When under attack, victims want 2 things; God & a gun)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bert

I was also a bell child. And I was teased appropriately for it. Everyone else’s mother just yelled.


22 posted on 06/14/2015 7:56:08 AM PDT by KosmicKitty (Liberals claim to want to hear other views, but then are shocked to discover there are other views)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: rktman

My friends and i would see how far from home we could ride our bikes and still make it back before dark.


23 posted on 06/14/2015 7:56:36 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bryanw92

I was taught to swim and turned loose. In Michigan, any kid allowed to run loose is going to end up in the water at some point.

I’m thinking its probably a good thing we don’t have alligators in these parts.


24 posted on 06/14/2015 7:57:16 AM PDT by cripplecreek (You vote for your TPP supporter and I'll vote for mine.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: KosmicKitty

Yep, same here. “Time for the cows to head home”.


25 posted on 06/14/2015 7:59:02 AM PDT by bonfire
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out, and make another one that looks just like you."

Dear God in Heaven, I thought I was the only one who ever heard that. ;-D

My mom would also say, "I wouldn't sell you for a million dollars, but wouldn't pay a nickel for another just like you".

26 posted on 06/14/2015 7:59:50 AM PDT by GingisK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: rktman

Those were the days before social liberal judges set loose all pedophiles rapists and molesters to be “ free range” predators


27 posted on 06/14/2015 8:01:03 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Texas Eagle
Nowadays if a neighbor notices a kid playing basketball in his own driveway waiting for mom or dad to get home from work, he calls Child Protective Services and the kids get taken away and the parents wind up in jail.

That is not a neighbor. That is a government spy.

A neighbor would go over and watch the kids while they play, to keep them safe. Or have the kids spend the time at their house, to protect them.

28 posted on 06/14/2015 8:01:51 AM PDT by savedbygrace (But God!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: rktman

In our house it was be home for dinner and don’t ride your bike farther than the strip mall a half mile down the street.


29 posted on 06/14/2015 8:02:30 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rktman

When I was 10, I used to ride my bike 4 miles to the horse stables in the summertime while my parents were at work. Nothing was going to keep me away from that horse. When school was in session, I wore a single house key on a loop of yarn around my neck and let myself in after school. My brother and I got in some hellacious fights while unsupervised (one time he locked me outside in the rain until 5 minutes before mom was due home. Jerk.), but nobody died and the police weren’t called. We also knew we could go to the neighbors if there was a problem. I don’t think it’s that way now, but what do I know... I don’t have kids.


30 posted on 06/14/2015 8:03:35 AM PDT by ponygirl (Put. A. Bird. On. It.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: savedbygrace

"Lenny! Come look! You'll never believe what that Stevens girl is doing now!"
31 posted on 06/14/2015 8:05:35 AM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek

>>I’m thinking its probably a good thing we don’t have alligators in these parts.

I grew up in Florida. We had alligators, water moccasins, rattlesnakes, wild pigs, and feral dogs—and that was just within bicycle range of my house.


32 posted on 06/14/2015 8:10:24 AM PDT by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: rktman

When you were a kid, perversion was neither tolerated nor accepted. In my children’s world perversion is forced upon them. The homosexual neighbor two doors down constantly tells me that my son (almost seven) is so handsome. He is. And my two daughters are gorgeous as well. I know I’m biased, but believe me when I say that my husband and I are stopped all the time by people who tell us how beautiful our kids are. Why does the homosexual then only comment on my son?

Long story short: I’ll helicopter like crazy and I don’t care what others think.


33 posted on 06/14/2015 8:10:43 AM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: central_va

What 9YL said.

That is nonsense. I cannot believe sometimes the hate on women here. Except that I guess it’s mostly reactionary.

Remember that a real problem is the liberal mindset that has come to permeate our society, and men and women are subject to it, even conservatives mostly in lib areas.


34 posted on 06/14/2015 8:11:17 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVs.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: silverleaf
Those were the days before social liberal judges set loose all pedophiles rapists and molesters to be “ free range” predators

There's no more pedophiles, rapists and murderers roaming the streets today than there were in the 70s. And back then, we didn't have on-line "sex offender" registries (which are largely useless, but still).

35 posted on 06/14/2015 8:16:15 AM PDT by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

I am 62 grew up in a city, during the summer I would leave the house at 9 with my bike, a bat, ball come back for lunch, head for Narragansett Bay, home for dinner, back out till night.

My kids and now my grandchild never had that freedom, sad.


36 posted on 06/14/2015 8:16:51 AM PDT by Leto
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Ditter

reminds me of when my buddy and I went up north to go fishing.....we went north to Canada. nothing like crossing the mighty mac when you are 16 without parents permission and just leaving a note that we would be gone for a few days “fishin” Big mistake, turns out we caught fish but it rained all the time and it was cold and we perfectly timed the black fly hatch. We got eaten alive. Best and worst 4 days we had when we were kids. The border agents didnt even bat an eye at us.


37 posted on 06/14/2015 8:21:29 AM PDT by Michigan Bowhunter (Patriots eneeeded!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: rktman

Related...

This is an excellent article O read last year exploring the history of this sheltered phenomenon kids are put in and the consequences of such:

The Overprotected Kid

A preoccupation with safety has stripped childhood of independence, risk taking, and discovery—without making it safer. A new kind of playground points to a better solution.

Hanna Rosin APRIL 2014 ISSUE

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/


38 posted on 06/14/2015 8:26:28 AM PDT by beaversmom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: beaversmom

*I read...


39 posted on 06/14/2015 8:27:03 AM PDT by beaversmom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: central_va

A friend of mine if a vol. firefighter. They got dispatched to a call with a hysterical women claiming her child had been injured and kept screaming “My baby, my baby” at 11:30 at night. They raced to the station, than got a ambulance and went code 3 to the address. Upon arrival it turns out their 7 year old had scraped their knee. They applied antibiotic and and bandaid and tried to call it a day. Nope, she insisted he child was seriously injured and need to got tot the ER. The ER nurse was not to happy to remove the bandage, see it was a scrape and re bandage the wound.


40 posted on 06/14/2015 8:28:07 AM PDT by matt04
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-98 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson