Cutting the Cord

Lenore Skenazy was deemed a bad mother after she wrote about letting her 9-year-old ride the subway alone. Kelly Wallace reports.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• cbsepisode
• Lenore
• Skenazy
• mother
• parenting
• bad
• kelly
• wallace
• cutting
• the
• cord
• kids
• raising
• children
• economy

[BinkieMcFartnuggets]

You've got to cut the cord with kids eventually, but preferably right after they exit the vagina, otherwise you risk infection.

[PicklesRTasty]

My parents allowed me to do what ever I wanted at the age of 12 and on. They were always very under-protective, and I think I have benefited from it. I am vastly more mature than most people my age, and learned responsibility at a young age, when mistakes are not detrimental.

Many children who are on leashes have them suddenly released, and the children react by drinking, doing drugs and messing their life up. Being overprotective, ironically, harms your child, not protects it.

[scotplaya]

My mom used to let me walk to elementary school but my family deemed her a bad mother so I had to drive a block with my mom to school.

[jonthom11702]

I live in NY, and I have to admit I might have ridden with the child on that first subway ride, but still let him find his way home. Then again I didn't grow up in NYC. Kids who grow up in the city aren't usually fazed by mass transit. I was however allowed to ride my bike fairly long distances on major roads without incident. Contrary to what folks think, there were no maniacal pedophiles hiding in corners waiting to pounce on me.

[AndrewDeLong]

@999Atwood

Oh, there is plenty of benefit in teaching the kid self reliance. Matter of fact, protected kids are better targets once they're finally let out into the world due to their sheer naivete.

As for the kid being a girl, again a moot point. Most attackers, be they known or not to the victim, don't really care about the sex of the child, just that the child cannot actually fight back.

[999Atwood]

@AndrewDeLong I think you mean there is no benefit to what she did, with one hell of a lot of extra risk, especially if the kid had been a girl.

[AndrewDeLong]

@999Atwood

She can explain it the same way as for those kids who grew up in free range homes. They had to grow up and become independent. There is no added risk in allowing to do what she did for her kid.

[999Atwood]

@AndrewDeLong I'm not going to gamble a young kids life on some dumb theory that this will make them more sucessful & independent. How does this lady explain the millions of successful, independent adults who grew up in homes that never allowed this? (And most don't) You are right that a parent who does protect their kids from attacks inside the home are equally asses.

[AndrewDeLong]

@999Atwood

Well, I personally prefer not to live an "if this happens" based life. A kid stands less of a chance getting attacked outside the home than inside the home. Misinformation and the "soccer moms of America" have led people to believe otherwise.

And would a parent not look equally like an ass if the child got attacked by a known assailant inside the home? In THAT case, the parent truly failed to right a serious wrong. Just trying to keep things fair.

[maniacalmike]

@999Atwood The probability of stranger abduction, etc. is vanishingly small, which is why the few cases are national news. You sound paranoid. There are much more serious risks to worry about, like the well-meaning but misguided parents who don't allow their children to be immunized, thus risking the return of childhood diseases that used to kill thousands of children each year.

[999Atwood]

@AndrewDeLong Well you can swim in shark infested waters many times before the day you finally get attacked, but on the day you get attacked it is not worth it. You can ride a motorcycle for years without a helmet but the day you wreck it is not worth it. You can send your kids out on city streets alone at 8 and get by with it maybe but on the day they get taken, you'll look like an ass. That is about the size of it.

[AndrewDeLong]

Oh, and that Uncle I speak of has no priors and is even facing the (potential) death penalty as we speak.