To Walk to School or Not

(and other questions about children’s freedom) I saw an interesting article from The Wild Network about how much freedom children should have. As a mum of an increasingly independent 9 year old I battle with this almost every day. Last week, for the first time, he walked home to an empty house, let himself in and looked after himself for 40 minutes before I arrived home. During this time we had three (yes, three) conversations on the phone! It is hard to completely hand that freedom over.

Anyhow, I like what The Wild Network have to say about not tolerating unsafe environments for children – this is something that I think could make a difference and which I could think about in future projects. The examples from Finland are inspiring, if a little daunting as a parent (not sure if I am ready for my boy to be roaming the streets after dark).

I am working on a project at the moment which might give me the opportunity to explore some of these ideas. As the article says the benefits are wide-ranging so it should be a no-brainer. However, we all know it is not that simple so how do we challenge the fears which are so deeply embedded in all of us?