President Obama recently signed the Every Student Succeeds Act which includes an amendment about parents’ rights when it comes to their children’s independence.
The amendment states, “…nothing in this Act shall…prohibit a child from traveling to and from school on foot or by car, bus, or bike when the parents of the child have given permission; or expose parents to civil or criminal charges for allowing their child to responsibly and safely travel to and from school by a means the parents believe is age appropriate.”
So what does this mean?
It means that parents now have the right to determine for themselves if their children are independent enough to walk to and from school by themselves.
It would seem that this was always the right of the parents, but recent scenarios prove otherwise.
You may recall Danielle and Alexander Meitiv, parents from Baltimore, MD, who let their young children walk home alone and who were subsequently investigated by Child Protective Services for neglect. The two cases that were filed against the Meitiv’s which accused them of child negligence have since been closed and the charges dropped.
The story made headlines partly due to the fact that the the Meitiv’s call themselves “Free Range Parents” and believe in allowing their children certain unsupervised freedoms.
The Free Range Parent’s movement was started by New York mom, Lenore Skenazy who gained infamy after she wrote a blog post about letting her then-9-year-old ride the subway by himself. Two days after this story was published, Skenazy found herself on the Today Show rebutting claims that she was “America’s Worst Mom.”
Since then, Skenazy has advocated for Free Range Parenting and was contacted by Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) to collaborate on this piece of legislation.
According to a press release, Lee said, “Our amendment protecting parents who allow their kids to walk to school is definitely a silver lining. Unsupervised moments are a huge part of how children learn, grow, and build the skills that prepare them for the rigors of citizenship and the adventure of adult life.”
Skenazy said that the passing of the bill, “Is a great start toward giving childhood back to children, and parenting back to parents. Most of us grew up ‘Free-Range’ and cherish our childhood memories. I’ll bet you can still picture your walk to school. Now our kids can have that same independence, that also taught us problem-solving, self-reliance, confidence — great skills to develop!”
There is a caveat in the amendment that states, “…nothing in this section 10 shall be construed to preempt State or local laws.’
The Free-Range Kids law appears on page 857 of the Every Child Succeeds Act.
