Reasonable Childhood Independence, with Lenore Skenazy

Lenore Skenazy, President of Let Grow and founder of the Free-Range Kids movement, joins Michael Ramey to discuss a recent Virginia case involving a mother who was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after allowing her five-year-old son to walk alone in their gated community. She received a six-month jail sentence that was suspended, while the child welfare investigation also resulted in her placement on Virginia’s child abuse and neglect registry.

The conversation examines the case in light of Virginia’s 2023 reasonable childhood independence law, which provides that allowing children to engage in age-appropriate independent activities without adult supervision does not, by itself, constitute abuse or neglect. Lenore and Michael discuss what happened in this case, the questions it raises about the application of the law, and the broader effort to protect families who give children opportunities for independence. They also consider similar laws in other states and the future of reasonable childhood independence protections.