# May 21 is national "Take your children to the park and leave them there" Day! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 10, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447 "2011-05-10T22:54:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/1 "2011-05-10T22:54:18Z")
> **[May 21: Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Again!](https://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/may-21-take-our-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-again/)** > > Hi Readers! It is time for our second annual Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day: Saturday, May 21! Last year this was an idea derided by the media right and left. “A… > [@](#): > > Hi Readers! It is time for our second annual Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day: Saturday, May 21! > > The day is all about getting our kids outside to meet each other and figure out how to have some fun. The idea is for us to take our kids to the park and, if they are about 7 or 8 or older, leave them there for a little while, with each other. Why? > > Because without us directing their activities and running over every time they yelp out of boredom or distress, they will actually learn how to do that thing many kids (including, to a certain extent, my own) have never really gotten the hang of: How to entertain themselves, without the help of adults or electronics. How to organize a game. How to, uh, play. Who is planning to participate? ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/2 "2011-05-10T22:57:31Z")
My kids do this sort of thing all the time. They take themselves to the park, or walk to their friends’ house, or to get a smoothie, or get a haircut, or go to the grocery store, or to the comic book store, or wherever. So this is nothing special to us, but so many kids are kept on very short leashes, and the freedom to play at the park by themselves in unknown. Take your children to the park and leave them there! ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/3 "2011-05-10T23:13:00Z")
My kids do this all the time too (yay free range parenting!!) but thank you for the reminder. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/4 "2011-05-10T23:15:42Z")
You mean either way my kids can get [left behind](http://judgementday2011.com/)? I’m in. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/5 "2011-05-10T23:17:45Z")
Bahhh… My NMBLA email newsletter has been promoting this thing for months… ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/6 "2011-05-10T23:26:54Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Bahhh… > > My NMBLA email newsletter has been promoting this thing for months… Why would Marlon Brando look-alikes be promoting it? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/7 "2011-05-10T23:29:46Z")
I watched a documentary a year or so ago about how modern kids have very little unscheduled time, and their mental and emotional health suffers from lack of unstructured play time. This sounds like a good idea to me. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/8 "2011-05-11T01:17:50Z")
It drives me crazy that so many people, especially parents, believe that crime is way up and the opposite is true. Crime is way, way down! ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/9 "2011-05-11T01:52:01Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Bahhh… > > My NMBLA email newsletter has been promoting this thing for months… Good thing I have girls. It’s more like we send them to the park, not leave them there. Think about it. Hey **Cat Whisperer** , wanna take them for a day? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/10 "2011-05-11T01:54:11Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > It drives me crazy that so many people, especially parents, believe that crime is way up and the opposite is true. Crime is way, way down! [Dara O’Briain]Ohhhh, but the _fear_ of crime is at an all-time high!\*[/Dara O’Briain] - Also true of zombies. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/11 "2011-05-11T02:00:18Z")
Hell it’s almost 9:00 and I have no idea where my kids are. I suppose I should go find 'em, 5 seems a little young to be outside in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/12 "2011-05-11T02:03:58Z")
My little one truly is too young, being six, but I will definitely keep it in mind for next year. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/13 "2011-05-11T03:15:18Z")
After reading the thread on “What awful things did you do when you were young” or whatever it’s titled, it’s obvious the crime rate is down because kids these days can’t roam! Be that as it may, my kids have always been free-range, as I was, and they are too old to take anywhere anymore, since they are both about to become parents. Payback time! ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/14 "2011-05-11T04:13:16Z")
Oops, it’s only for a day? I wish someone would have mentioned that last year! ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/15 "2011-05-11T04:33:08Z")
Ok, I’ll be the one to say it: I don’t agree with this idea that it is somehow virtuous to let young kids run around unsupervised. Sure, I am in favor of letting kids have free time in the park to play, but I don’t think it’s particularly wise to leave them there without adult supervision (though I am also not advocating hovering right over them and micromanaging). When I grew up, I spent a lot of time playing by myself in my backyard, but my parents were always nearby in the house at least, and could have come out there immediately if anything bad went on. I never went places by myself until I was a teenager. Sure, most of the time kids who play unsupervised will be fine, but a low chance of being victimized isn’t a zero chance. I was just reading about [this poor girl’s tragic death](http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Man-24-Raped-Murdered-9-Year-Old-DA-121591519.html). She was 9 years old, so old enough to roam free by this day’s standard, yet she wasn’t able to defend herself against an adult predator. Playing the odds that your kid **probably** won’t be targeted by a predator will work out most of the time, but if you happen to be the unlucky family who does get victimized what consolation is that? Not to mention that kids are capable of victimizing each other, of course. Most likely your kid won’t run into another child who has been molested and acts out in a sexually inappropriate manner with other kids as a result, or a malicious older kid who intentionally seeks out weaker and younger kids to bully, but it certainly can and does happen. Enough stuff happened at my elementary school’s playground even with the well-meaning supervision that our school gave us. Even though I am well aware that child abduction by strangers is very rare and that a child is far more likely (statistically) to be molested by their stepfather than a random stranger, letting them roam around unsupervised seems like a needless risk to me. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/16 "2011-05-11T04:40:49Z")
Keeping them locked in the basement is ok with me. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/17 "2011-05-11T12:21:37Z")
I love the caption on the article’s photo. “Good lord! Are those children having FUN on their OWN? It’s an outrage!” ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/18 "2011-05-11T12:37:57Z")
“You have to be home when the streetlights come on”. I don’t think we had a fat kid on the street either. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/19 "2011-05-11T14:50:25Z")
I doubt my wife will go for this. Our 6-1/2 year-old went off exploring with two friends a couple of months ago and all three moms freaked out. We had to mount a search party (we found them on the side of the road walking back to the house, safe and sound) and the kids got very stern lectures (which I couldn’t help with because I didn’t understand what they had done wrong). The 8 year-olds aren’t given any freedom either. It’s distressing to me. When I was 7 I walked to the various baseball fields around my hometown all the time, often alone, and always involving crossing busy streets, much busier than any we have in this town. When I suggested that my 8-year-old daughter walk alone to her bus stop, which is just around the corner, I was told by several people that 8 is much too young for her to do that. She doesn’t even think she could do it, but that’s because of conditioning - all she’s ever heard is that it’s dangerous out there. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447/20 "2011-05-11T15:57:16Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > Ok, I’ll be the one to say it: I don’t agree with this idea that it is somehow virtuous to let young kids run around unsupervised. Sure, I am in favor of letting kids have free time in the park to play, but I don’t think it’s particularly wise to leave them there without adult supervision (though I am also not advocating hovering right over them and micromanaging). When I grew up, I spent a lot of time playing by myself in my backyard, but my parents were always nearby in the house at least, and could have come out there immediately if anything bad went on. I never went places by myself until I was a teenager. > > Sure, most of the time kids who play unsupervised will be fine, but a low chance of being victimized isn’t a zero chance. I was just reading about [this poor girl’s tragic death](http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Man-24-Raped-Murdered-9-Year-Old-DA-121591519.html). She was 9 years old, so old enough to roam free by this day’s standard, yet she wasn’t able to defend herself against an adult predator. Playing the odds that your kid **probably** won’t be targeted by a predator will work out most of the time, but if you happen to be the unlucky family who does get victimized what consolation is that? > Not to mention that kids are capable of victimizing each other, of course. Most likely your kid won’t run into another child who has been molested and acts out in a sexually inappropriate manner with other kids as a result, or a malicious older kid who intentionally seeks out weaker and younger kids to bully, but it certainly can and does happen. Enough stuff happened at my elementary school’s playground even with the well-meaning supervision that our school gave us. > > Even though I am well aware that child abduction by strangers is very rare and that a child is far more likely (statistically) to be molested by their stepfather than a random stranger, letting them roam around unsupervised seems like a needless risk to me. Nothing is risk-free. Nothing. The only question is how high are the risks and what are the benefits? In this case, letting kids play at the park without supervision is extremely low risk. Really really low risk. And the more kids that are all there together from the neighborhood, the lower the risk gets. So what is the benefit? Freedom, trust, confidence, exercise, problem-solving, creativity, competence, self-awareness, and a break for the parents. Seems more than worth it to me. If you drive the kids to the park and leave them there alone for 2 hours, the most dangerous part of the equation, by far, is the drive there and back. Yet we take that kind of a risk with their lives every day. Why are people okay with the large risk of driving the kids in a car and not okay with the tiny risk of leaving them in a park for a time? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-21-is-national-take-your-children-to-the-park-and-leave-them-there-day/581447.md?page=2)