free range moms

Here's a post from our partners at BabyCenter! Every week, we bring you the best parenting and lifestyle stories from the experts at BabyCenter, including this post about letting kids play outside.

Last week, the parents of a six-year old girl learned that Child Protective Services might take their little girl from them. Their crime? They allowed her to walk a couple of blocks to the post office alone.

She doesn’t live in a busy city. She had to cross one road, a “T” intersection with a stop sign and traffic light. It was a very common walk for her, but her parents rehearsed her doing it independently as well. She had a cell phone on her just in case. And now, she might be removed completely from her family.

Related: Does My Body Measure Up to Other Moms'?

I feel terribly sad when I hear these stories. For one, I’ve been interrogated by CPS after a doctor irresposibly jumped to conclusions because my daughter is brain damaged. But, I also feel for the members of the public. As in the case of this six-year old girl, the ones who felt they had no choice but to involve the police, rather than believe the parents. It must feel awful when you can not remove yourself from suspicions, even after a reasonable explanation is given.

I’m geniunely unnerved by this state of fearfulness. Fear of your child being snatched from your peaceful suburban town. Fear of CPS knocking down your door if you allow them to explore safely. Fear of your child being kidnapped from your locked car when you run inside to grab your forgotten purse off the counter.

The statistics about child abduction may surprise you. Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says, “More missing children come home today than at any time in our nation’s history. And the total number of missing children has been on the decline over the past 10 years.”

Keep reading for more thoughts on kids playing outside.

Forget Nanny 911, there's a new parenting sheriff in town, and her name is Lenore Skenazy. Readers may remember her as the famous or infamous — depending on which parenting circles you run in — New York columnist who was dubbed the "world's worst mother" for allowing her 9-year-old son to ride the subway solo in 2008. Instead of backpedaling and trying to save face in front of all those haters, Skenazy turned her adventure in parenting infamy into a whole movement, known as Free-Range Parenting, in direct opposition to the Helicopter Mom phenomenon.

Skenazy is now the host of a new reality series, Bubble Wrap Kids, where she attempts to "unwrap" a generation of tots being protected to the point of suffocation by their well-meaning, way overprotective parents. The first episode finds Skenazy counseling an extremely anxious mother of a 10-year-old boy who isn't permitted to skate, ride a bicycle, eat bacon, go to camp, or use a knife. Currently, the show is being produced in Canada, but if an American version shows up, will you watch?

Go ahead and let go! Rising up in direct opposition to the much maligned overprotective, helicopter mom, the free-range parent boldly allows — even encourages — her children to take part in what many parents would consider risky behaviors. If the following signs sound familiar, don't be surprised if other parents stop returning your calls for playdates; you're clearly a free-ranger and thus a danger to civilized society!

1. You don't care what other people think; you're OK with being called "America's Worst Mom."
2. You wear a "What Would Lenore Skenazy Do" bracelet.
3. You hear your kid take a tumble outside. Before you go running, you don't ask if he's bleeding, you ask how much he's bleeding.
4. Your standard answer to your tots' repeated requests to join every after-school activity he hears about is, "Go out and play."
5. When researching elementary schools, you look for child-directed free play in the class descriptions.
6. You believe that teaching children independence and self-reliance is as, if not more important, than a perfect SAT score.
7. You brazenly allow your responsible 12-year-old to walk the two safe blocks to the corner store during the day — without a security detail.
8. You're OK with your child learning certain things the hard way — even if it means she'll bump her head, get her heart broken, or fail a test.
9. You view a pack of roving children as a positive example of community; your neighbor calls the cops and initiates a neighborhood watch.
10. You trust your instincts about your own kid; you know when he's mature enough to spend an unsupervised hour at the playground better than some arbitrary rule.

Drop the kiddos off at this Saturday's first ever Take Our Children to the Park . . . And Leave Them There Day. Playgrounds are abuzz with parents discussing the amount of freedom children need. The day, which free-range parenting pioneer Lenore Skenazy created to draw attention to today's tendency toward over-parenting, is encouraging mom and dad to allow their kids — particularly those over 7 years old — to play without restrictions.

But for parents who aren't ready to leave their kiddos completely alone, we have three tips to ease your way into allowing them more freedom.

• If an entire afternoon at the park sounds too scary, try five- and 10-minute increments of freedom.
• If you're used to hovering over your child on the jungle gym, try sitting on a bench and watching from afar. You'll still be close enough to keep tabs on things.
• Rather than tote a bag filled with toys and equipment, let your child lead the way. See where some unstructured play time leads them.

The term "free-range kids" made Lenore Skenazy a household name in America. But British parents are still keeping close tabs on their children. LV=Streetwise, a British charity that educates children about safety, conducted a study and found that parents are more restrictive than previous generations. While mom and dad grew up playing in their local parks and sleeping at friends' houses when they were young, their own lil ones must wait two years longer to do the same activities. The survey of 6,000 adults and 1,000 children found that 43 percent of kids are restricted from visiting their nearest park alone and 60 percent are not allowed to use public transportation without an adult.

In an effort to ease helicopter parenting, Skenazy is encouraging parents to give their children some independence on May 22 with the first Take Our Children to the Park . . . And Leave Them There Day. Will you participate?