The 10 Most Infuriating Challenges to Free-Range Parenting in 2024

Without further ado, here are 10 stories from 2024 that drove free-range parents crazy.

Child Reported Walking: As Reason was the very first to report, authorities charged Georgia mom Brittany Patterson with “reckless conduct” after her son, age 10, walked to town—population 370—without telling her. The cops came to her home, handcuffed her in front of her kids, and threw her in jail. (Talk about reckless conduct.) Child services then tried to require Patterson to track her child at all times.

Independent walking, of course, can lead to independent bicycling.

Child Reported Bicycling: “The police were called because my 8-year-old was riding her bike on our street,” Kentucky mom Kay Eskridge told Reason. The cops said a woman had alerted the authorities because she was upset to discover a child outside. Independent biking, of course, can lead to independent exploration.

Child Reported Exploring: British TV star Kirstie Allsopp let her son, age 15, take a three-week rail trip around Europe with his 16-year-old friend. When she wrote on X about how proud she was, someone reported her to child services. A caseworker told Allsopp that the government would maintain a file on her parenting skills until her son turned 25—just in in case she did anything else that would warrant a visit from law enforcement. Like allowing him to get sunburnt, perhaps.

Child Reported Sunburnt: J.D. and Britney Lott are a Christian couple who travel across America with their eight kids, documenting their adventures on Instagram. Their antics have drawn the ire of an anti-Christian Reddit group, which enjoys bullying them. When the group saw their baby looking reddish in one of the Instagram posts, they called the cops to say the Lotts were abusing him. Child services ordered the family to report for immediate medical inspection or a national manhunt would commence. All eight kids passed their inspections with flying colors.

Child Reported Frolicking: The four-page Montgomery County Public Schools Playground Supervision Recess Procedures for Playground Aides states that recess monitors must “caution children if it appears that emotions and excitement are mounting to a point where incorrect actions may soon result.” Excitement? While playing? Perish the thought.

Children Warned About Trees: Toronto has banned tobogganing on 45 hills, as these might have “hazards such as trees, stumps, rocks, rivers or roads.” Warning kids about having too much fun while experiencing nature is what might be called a slippery slope.

Children Constantly Watched: Apps that track kids’ locations are increasing in popularity as parents feel compelled to seek greater oversight over their activities. Parents are demanding panic buttons, fall detection, and apps that automatically unlock the door for their kids or turn on the lights for them.

Children Trying to Hide: A study found that time spent in college dining halls is down 40 percent, with anxious students preferring to eat alone in their dorm rooms. Attendance at sporting events and clubs is down, too, and at Wesleyan University, student government leaders take their walks together on campus holding on to a shared rope, preschool style.

Children Driving Parents Nuts: The U.S. Surgeon General’s report on parenting found that parents are buckling under the stress of child rearing. If only they felt they could get some rest and relaxation by, say, letting their kids go out and walk on their own, or bike, or toboggan, or turn the lights on for themselves…

Children? Fuhgeddaboudit. A Pew Research Center study about parent/child relationships found that almost half of people under 50 who don’t have kids said they are unlikely to ever have them—a number that has increased by 10 percentage points in just five years. When asked why, “57 percent said they simply didn’t want to have them. Women were more likely to respond this way than men (64 percent vs. 50 percent),” The New York Times reported. See above.

And yet there is cause for hope.

Children Encouraged To Play: The Canadian Paediatric Society officially endorsed “risky play” this year, writing: “Paediatricians are encouraged to think of outdoor risky play as one way to help prevent and manage common health problems such as obesity, anxiety, and behavioural issues.” (Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatricians continues to say no can safely walk on their own until age 10.)

Children Encouraged To Explore: “Independence therapy” could revolutionize childhood anxiety treatment, according to the Journal of Anxiety Disorders. A peer-reviewed article by Long Island University psychology professor Camilo Ortiz made note of the mental health benefits of independence. He was inspired by Let Grow’s free program, the Let Grow Experience, which is now used in more than 1,000 schools.

Children Encouraged To Be Children: Jonathan Haidt’s bestseller, . In fact, the book recommends Let Grow–style strategies right and left. That’s not surprising; Haidt is a co-founder—with me—of Let Grow. The book also recommends that states pass Reasonable Childhood Independence laws. Eight have done so thus far. We are hoping to pass said laws in half a dozen more states in 2025.

Just Plain Bragging: On May 10, this was a clue on Jeopardy!: “Lenore Skenazy, who wrote of letting her 9-year-old ride the NYC subway alone, moved this term from raising chickens to raising kids.” My work here is done!

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