In a first of its kind legislation, Utah has brought into law a bill legalizing a controversial parenting method called “free-range parenting,” which encourages children at a young age to become self-sufficient.
According to The Independent, the new law states that parents who let their kids do certain activities without supervision — like staying home alone, being alone in a case, playing outside unattended and walking to and from school alone — will not be considered neglectful.
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The bill, which was signed by Republican Governor Gary Herbert, comes into effect on May 8 and is meant to protect parents who have children who are considered mature and practice good judgment.
As of now, there are no specific ages applied to the law. Instead, cases of child abuse and neglect will be handled on a case-by-case basis, the Associated Press says.
Lawmakers were prompted to form the law after observing cases in other states where parents had been investigated for similar instances, and in some cases had their children temporarily removed when people had reported witnessing kids playing or walking on their own.
A similar law was attempted in Arkansas last year, but was not passed, The Independent says.
Lenore Skenazy, who is credited with coining the term “free-range parenting,” addressed Utah’s bill passing.
“Friend, it has happened,” she wrote. “We have changed the course of parenting – and law. Loving moms and dads in Utah do not have to worry that they will be arrested or investigated simply for trusting their kids to walk to school, play outside, go to the park. Only 49 states to go!”
Needless to say, Utah’s decision to pass such a law has left many confused and divided.
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For parenting expert Julie Freedman-Smith, it’s surprising that lawmakers would have to make a law out of such a thing.
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“I would prefer a law that went in this direction than in the other direction,” she says. “I think with any law that there’s a possibility of someone misusing it, but in general it actually seems strange that we would need to have a law like this.”
But when it does come to letting kids go on their own, how young is too young?
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According Freedman-Smith, knowing when a child is ready to do things on his or her own doesn’t come down to age, but rather the individual child.
“It’s less about an age and it’s more about the individual child, because if a child has never had any responsibility or opportunity to experience doing some of these things on their own and they’re suddenly left to do it, they’re probably not going to have a great ability to do it,” Freedman-Smith says. “On the other hand, if a child has been working at age-appropriate levels all the way along and has learned how to do this and has the skillset to do it, then they may have great success.”
Freedman-Smith says there’s no way anyone can say that every child at a particular age can handle certain types of tasks or situations, because it all comes down to the types of experiences the child has had growing up, as well as the parenting they’ve received.
In Canada, however, some provinces do have laws in place that determine at what age children can be left alone.
For example, according to the Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal, the majority of provinces and territories do not limit the age at which a child can be left alone. However, the welfare acts of Manitoba and New Brunswick say that a parent cannot leave a child under the age of 12 unsupervised “without making provision for adequate supervision.” In Quebec as well, the age for leaving a child unattended in a vehicle is seven years.
By letting kids learn on their own, Freedman-Smith says it teaches them responsibility and allows them to develop the skills they’ll need when they grow up.
But if parents are wary about starting the process, the best thing they can do is arm their children with knowledge. This mean showing them (not just telling them) what to do and how to do it, as well as instructions as to what they should do in an emergency.
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