Lenore Skenazy

{{Infobox person

| name = Lenore Skenazy

| image = Lenore Skenazy, standing hands in pocket.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|11|27}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality =

| other_names =

| occupation = Writer and reality show host

| education = Yale University (BA)
Columbia University (MA)

| television = World's Worst Mom

| years_active =

| organization = Let Grow

| known_for = Free-range parenting

| notable_works = Book: "Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow" (2021)

}}

Lenore Skenazy ({{IPAc-en|l|ɪ|ˈ|n|ɔr|_|s|k|ə|ˈ|n|eɪ|z|i}}) is an American speaker, blogger, syndicated columnist, author, and reality show host, known for her activism in favor of free-range parenting. In 2008, she wrote a controversial column on her decision to let her then-9-year-old son take the New York City Subway home alone. The piece became a national story, prompting massive media attention. She was dubbed "America's Worst Mom".{{Cite web |last=Brody |first=Jane E. |date=2015-01-19 |title=Parenting Advice From 'America's Worst Mom' |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/advice-from-americas-worst-mom/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=The New York Times |language=en}} In response, Skenazy wrote Free-Range Kids, adding a blog of the same name. She is the president of Let Grow, co-founded in 2018 with Daniel Shuchman, Peter Gray and Jonathan Haidt,{{Cite web |title=Our People |url=https://letgrow.org/our-people/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=Let Grow |language=en-US}} an organisation advocating free-range parenting.

Early life

Skenazy is a 1981 graduate of Yale University. She got her master's degree from Columbia in 1983.{{citation needed|date = September 2022}}

Career

Skenazy spent fourteen years as a columnist for the New York Daily News, but was fired in December 2006.{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2006/12/01/happy-holiday-news-hometown-paper-fires-columnist-skenazy/|title=Happy Holiday News – Hometown Paper Fires Columnist Skenazy|last=Kelly|first=Keith|date=December 1, 2006|publisher=New York Post|accessdate=October 12, 2017}} She wrote about “intriguing oddballs”, such as a couple who got married underwater. She was featured in the 2006 Bravo series Tabloid Wars, which focused on Daily News journalists.{{Cite web |last=Jae-Ha Kim |date=July 24, 2006 |title="Tabloid Wars": Newspaper rivalry not much fun to watch |url=https://www.jaehakim.com/2006/07/tabloid-wars-newspaper-rivalry-not-much-fun-to-watch/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |language=en-US}} She subsequently moved to The New York Sun and wrote there until closed in 2008.

File:Lenore Skenazy, speaking.jpg, New Hampshire Porcupine Freedom Festival]]

Skenazy's 2008 column in the Sun, "Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone," described her controversial decision to let her son take the New York City Subway home alone, which was completed without incident.{{cite web|url=https://www.nysun.com/article/opinion-why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-subway-alone|title=Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone|last=Skenazy|first=Lenore|date=2008-04-01|work=nysun.com|accessdate=September 21, 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506154236/https://www.nysun.com/article/opinion-why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-subway-alone|archive-date=2022-05-06}} The piece resulted in accusations of child abuse and memories of first-time subway trips and childhood freedom. The story was covered on The Today Show, Fox News, NPR,{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89502019|title=At What Age Should Kids Ride the Subway Alone?|author=|date=April 9, 2008|work=npr.org|accessdate=September 21, 2015}} and MSNBC,{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23935873/from/ET/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408015837/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23935873/from/ET/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 8, 2008|title=Mom lets son, 9, ride subway alone|author=|date=|work=todayf.com|accessdate=September 21, 2015}} becoming worldwide news and being featured on Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, The View, Nightline, Good Morning America, CBS News, NBC Nightly News, Anderson Cooper, Dr. Phil, Nancy Grace, the BBC, the CBC, and ABC in Australia. In 2015, she was profiled in The New Yorker and The New York Times.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/mother-may|title=Mother May I?|author=|date=February 23, 2015|magazine=The New Yorker|accessdate=September 21, 2015}} Her blog's popularity led to Free-Range Kids..{{Cite web |title=Author Lenore Skenazy Explains 'Free-Range Kids' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/LifeStages/story?id=7551264&page=1 |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=ABC News |language=en}}

= Blogger =

Skenazy proposed May 22, 2010, as the first "Take Our Children to the Park & Leave Them There Day"—a day for children to learn how to play by themselves without constant supervision.{{cite web|url=http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/22/its-take-our-children-to|title=It's "Take Our Children to the Park and Leave Them There Day"|author=|date=May 22, 2010|work=Reason.com|accessdate=September 21, 2015}} In 2012 Skenazy hosted the reality television show World's Worst Mom on Discovery Life. The 13-episode series features Skenazy visiting anxious parents, including the mother of a 10-year-old who she still spoon-fed; the mother of an 8-year-old who bought home a skateboard, but only let him "ride" it on the grass, and the mother of a 13-year-old who still took him into the ladies' room.{{Cite web |last=Thielman |first=Sam |date=2011-12-01 |title='World's Worst Mom' goes globe-trotting |url=https://variety.com/2011/tv/news/world-s-worst-mom-goes-globe-trotting-1118046858/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

In 2017, Skenazy co-founded the nonprofit Let Grow, along with Jonathan Haidt, Daniel Shuchman and Peter Gray. Let Grow's mission is to make it "easy, normal, and legal to give kids the independence they need to grow into capable, confident and happy adults." Its free materials for parents, schools, and counselors help them encourage independence and unstructured, unsupervised free play and real-world responsibility for adolescents and children.{{Cite news |last=Prichep |first=Deena |date=September 3, 2018 |title=To Raise Confident, Independent Kids, Some Parents Are Trying To 'Let Grow' |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/03/641256596/to-raise-confident-independent-kids-some-parents-are-trying-to-let-grow}}{{Cite web |last=Petersen |first=Andrea |date=June 1, 2018 |title=The Overprotected American Child |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-overprotected-american-child-1527865038 |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=February 26, 2024 |title=Mission |url=https://letgrow.org/about-us/ |access-date=February 24, 2024 |website=Let Grow}}{{Cite journal |date=2020 |title=Helicopter Parents versus Free-Range Kids |url=https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216001515.ch-008 |journal=The Problem with Parenting |pages=129–151 |doi=10.5040/9798216001515.ch-008|url-access=subscription }} In 2018, Utah became the first state in the U.S. to pass the Free-Range Parenting bill, assuring parents that they can give their children some independence without this being mistaken for neglect, for which the Washington Post credited Skenazy's 2008 column as a contributing influence.{{Cite news |title=Utah's 'free-range parenting' law said to be first in the nation |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/28/utahs-free-range-parenting-law-said-to-be-first-in-the-nation/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |issn=0190-8286}} Similar laws recognizing reasonable childhood independence have since been enacted in other states, including Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. Several other states have relaxed laws regarding some aspects of childhood independence.{{Cite web |date=February 26, 2024 |title=State policies and updates |url=https://letgrow.org/states/ |access-date=February 26, 2024 |website=Let Grow}}

Skenazy is a frequent contributing writer for Reason magazine, covering mostly topics related to her concept of Free-range parenting as well as overprotective parents and laws that punish parents when they leave their children unsupervised.{{Cite web |last=Skenazy |first=Lenore |date=2024-07-10 |title=Cops called on 8-year-old child for being outside |url=https://reason.com/2024/07/10/cops-called-on-8-year-old-child-for-being-outside/ |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=Reason.com |language=en-US}}

Personal life

Skenazy is Jewish.{{cite news |last1=Skenazy |first1=Lenore |title=A Jew Finally Frets About Heaven & Hell |agency=amNY |url=https://www.amny.com/news/jew-finally-frets-heaven-hell/ |url-status=dead |access-date=20 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320141034/https://www.amny.com/news/jew-finally-frets-heaven-hell/ |archive-date=20 March 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Shefa |first1=Sheri |date=June 9, 2011 |title=Loosen the reins, columnist says to overprotective parents |publisher=The Canadian Jewish News |agency=The Canadian Jewish News |url=https://thecjn.ca/arts/books-and-authors/loosen-reins-columnist-says-overprotective-parents/ |access-date=20 March 2022}} Her paternal grandparents emigrated from Çanakkale, Turkey.{{cite news |last1=Skenazy |first1=Lenore |date=February 17, 1985 |title=The Road to Canakkale: In Search of Turkish Roots |publisher=Nash Holdings |agency=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/1985/02/17/the-road-to-canakkale-in-search-of-turkish-roots/f2c1de7a-bc26-45c8-974a-ac8e9d885629/ |access-date=20 March 2022}} Her maternal grandparents came from Russia and Poland.

Bibliography

{{cite book |title= Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry |publisher= John Wiley & Sons |year= 2009 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=krE1y1SC3uEC |isbn= 978-0470471944 |oclc= 268790698}}
Who’s the Blonde that Married What’s-His-Name: The Ultimate Tip of the Tongue Test of Everything You Know You Know…But Can’t Remember Right Now (Penguin Books, June 2009)
"The Dysfunctional Family Christmas Songbook" (Broadway Books, 2004), with co-author John Boswell.
{{cite magazine|title=When Good Parents Get Arrested|journal=Reader's Digest|date=May 2016}}
Why Parents are More Paranoid than Ever, NY Post, March 31, 2018

References

External links

[http://www.freerangekids.com Lenore Skenazy Website & Blog]
[http://www.nysun.com/authors/Lenore+Skenazy Lenore Skenazy archive, New York Sun]
[https://reason.com/people/lenore-skenazy/ Lenore Skenazy - Reason.com]
[https://letgrow.org/ Let Grow]

Category:1959 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American Jews

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century American women journalists

Category:20th-century American journalists

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century American women journalists

Category:21st-century American journalists

Category:21st-century American women writers