Group to celebrate 'Take Our Children to the Park... And Leave Them There' Day

SEATTLE -- A group of self-proclaimed free-range parents plan to celebrate "Take Our Children to the Park... And Leave Them There Day" Saturday, perhaps causing many others to turn their heads in question.

The group, called "Free-Range Kids" has celebrated the day for five years, the group's website states. This year, interested parents will combine the day with "Let Them Walk Home by Themselves Day," encouraging parents to allow kids to walk home on their own.

The day is considered a show of solidarity with the Meitivs of Maryland, parents whose children were allegedly hounded by Child Protective Services for walking to the park alone with their parents' permission.

Here's how the day works, according to FreeRangeKids.com:

At 10 in the morning on Saturday, May 9,  we take our kids to the local park (or they go by themselves). That way, with any luck, kids in the neighborhood who might not even know each other — different schools, different grades, different soccer programs — meet! When the adults say goodbye, it’s the kids’ job to come up with something to do. We used to have a name for this activity.

Playing.


The post's author even encouraged parents to notify their local police department to make sure it's not an arrestable offense. The group reminded concerned well-wishers that there has also never been a safer time to be a kid in America, according to a recent Washington Post story.

Free Range Kids says the idea of allowing children to play in a park alone stems from a premise that helicopter parenting -- or over-involved parenting-- is hurting this nation's youth. The goal is to get children outside playing with each other, and serve as a reminder that kids are very capable on their own.

"The rest of the globe sends it kids off to school on their own —  walking, riding bikes, taking transit — at age 7," the author wrote.

Of course, parents were encouraged to stay with their kids if they were deemed too young.

Recently, we interviewed a family who practices Free-Range Parenting on Q13 FOX News This Morning.