Encouraging children in free range in Florida should not be a crime

I hear a lot about the conflict between Democrats and Republicans, especially when it comes to family issues. But we are Republicans and Democrats on the exact same page when it comes to issues of independence in childhood.

We believe parents have the right to let their children do something themselves – they are not afraid to be investigated for negligence, such as playing outside or walking to the store.

This issue caught our attention when we read Jonathan Hyde’s book, The Ancient Generation. Then, just a few months ago, Georgia’s mother was arrested. The mother was handcuffed in front of the child and thrown into prison. Her story sparked rage all over the world.

We both grew up in a lot of unsupervised times, so we shared that rage and it wasn’t because we were ignored. That’s because our parents trust us and we knew that when our kids do things themselves, they would always learn a lot of lessons that they couldn’t learn with an adult supervision.

Monique spent his first nine years in rural Missouri. She went outside and built a fort with the other children, picked flowers and gathered walnuts. At the age of nine, she moved to California where she had a huge game of stealing the flag. She wasn’t particularly good at it, but she loved it.

Playing independently was the way our kids grew up at the time and didn’t want to see the opportunity taken away. She gained confidence and responsibility from that freedom and had a lot of fun. It’s a solid childhood!

By his side, Leonard grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He and his friends all wanted to be Evel Kniebelle, so they spent a lot of time making bike ramps and riding, jumping and falling from their BMX bikes. They then go inside for a band-aid, come out and try again.

After school, the kids played touch football in the park and played basketball at the back of a friend’s house. Sometimes they challenge children from a few blocks away to a neighborhood fight. All of these were organized by the children. In the process, they learned how to negotiate, compete, lose, get up and sometimes win.

In the meantime? They drank from the horse.

That’s something you don’t see much anymore. And while we both realized you couldn’t get back to the 80s, we teamed up to make sure that whenever our kids thought they were ready to do something for themselves, there was no need for a good parent to re-authenticate themselves. This applies to parents who intentionally want their children to be “free range.” And it goes for the parents of poor.

Childcare for helicopters should not be a land law. That’s why they co-host the “rational childhood independence” bill, HB 1191, for Florida families. So far, nine states have passed so far, including this March in Georgia. Just this week, the Senate version of Our Bill (SB 1286), introduced by fellow Senator Erin Gral, passed the Florida Senate.

The law makes it clear that “negligence” is the putting a child at a serious and obvious risk. It’s actually good to be a part of childhood activities that include (but not limited to) playing outside, walking to school, and simply spending unsupervised time. – For the development of children. As the Journal of Pediatrics recently reported, mental health has also declined due to declining independence for many years.

We all know about the mental health crisis for young people. At least make it as easy for kids to go outside as they go online.

We are very grateful to have grown up in a time when children were allowed to become part of the real world. They were trusted with free time, free play, responsibility and they were able to discover how much they could handle.

Our bill allows parents to become children and their children. It’s a victory for Florida families.

Monique Miller is a Republican representing the 33rd District (Brevard County). She is a mother of two and a grandmother of three. Leonard Spencer is a Democrat representing District 45 (Orange and Osceola County). He is the father of two.

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