Free-range parenting makes a comeback; will it lead to more responsible upbringing?

The chickens are finally coming home to roost. After years of parents being second-guessed by the authorities about how they bring up their progeny, a single US state so far, Utah, has passed what is being called the ‘free-range parenting’ law. In other words, what parents had been doing for generations and had recently been deprived of by many hyper-cautious Western nanny nations is being brought back under legal protection.

Not that ‘spare the rod, spoil the child’ sort of Victorian rules should become the norm again, but all parents should not be deemed so delinquent that they need to be told by a set of uniform laws how to raise their children, as so much of parenting is contextual. Whether kids go to school alone or play in parks without parental supervision can hardly have nationwide applications.

Logically, if chickens — who are not inclined to and equipped for as diverse a range of activities as humans — are healthier and happier with ‘free range’ lives, it stands to reason that children allowed greater independence (presuming adequate safeguards) will grow up to be more sound individuals.


And free-range parenting would also lead to more responsible upbringing. After all, many, if not most, of today’s parents and grandparents were not brought up by helicopter (hovering) mothers and fathers, and have lived to tell the tale.