Look outside your window today. How many kids do you see playing in the snow? Are they sledding or building forts? Playing in the woods? Walking home from school?
If you think that picture is different from when you were a kid, you're not alone.
To start a community conversation around the issue, Live Healthy Red Wing -- a group that works to make it easier to eat healthy and get physical activity every day -- is sponsoring a citywide book read featuring "Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry)."
"For lots of reasons we've over-managed our children's lives so they don't have time to do -- or aren't allowed to do -- things on their own," says David Anderson, associate executive director of the YMCA and member of Live Healthy Red Wing.
"For some kids, that means not being able to walk to the neighborhood park, explore the woods, or even play in the yard alone."
All those indoor hours result in unhealthy kids, he said.
In fact, for the first time in recorded history, American children are more likely to live shorter lives than their parents, due to poor nutrition and sedentary lifestyles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That statistic reflects what many people -- in Red Wing and around the country -- have been thinking and seeing for awhile.
"People don't let kids explore the outdoors like they used to because we're afraid something unsafe might happen. But think of all the fantastic things each of us did outside as kids," Environmental Learning Center Director Jason Jech said. "My bike was my key to freedom, and I practically lived on the edge of the Cannon River bottoms fishing and building forts. Those things influenced the rest of my life."
"Free-Range Kids" author Lenore Skenazy says parenting has indeed changed over the last 30 years. She says many of today's mothers and fathers -- along with grandparents, friends, teachers, and neighbors -- protect children so much they unwittingly raise kids who are less happy and healthy, and unprepared for real life.
Skenazy knows first hand the high emotions that swirl around the free-range topic. Three years ago when she let her 9-year-old son, who grew up in New York City, ride the subway home alone, she inadvertently started a media frenzy over how closely parents should watch over their children. She became known as "America's Worst Mom."
But she also heard from thousands worldwide who sided with her belief that middle-class culture has bubble-wrapped the world so young people grow up without experiencing a healthy amount of failure and disappointment.
Sunnyside Elementary School Principal Patti Roberts said Skenazy has a point.
"If we put our kids in a bubble for too long, eventually that bubble will burst," Roberts said. "We need to give children the tools to handle those bumps, and they'll be stronger for it."
"Being a free-range parent will mean different things to different people," said Pam Horlitz, Fairview's Business and Community Development coordinator and a member of Live Healthy Red Wing. "It doesn't mean doing away with safety or responsibility or being hands-off. It just means looking at ways we can give children back the freedoms they need to help them grow into confident, curious, healthy adults."
Who or what is the culprit for our hovering ways?
Skenazy says there's a host of sources -- from the media hype over abductions and accidents, to overzealous parenting books, to the fact that we don't know our neighbors and neighborhoods as well as in years past. To debunk the scary myths, the author includes statistics and quotes from experts who say facts prove the world is safer now than at any time in the last three decades.
But it's not only safety concerns that keep our children inside. It's also the number of organized activities we pack into their day that leads to less time for creative imagination.
Police Chief Tim Sletten, who read the book, said he relates.
"Where I grew up, the whole town was our playground and we made our own fun," he said. "Parents still need to be safety minded but at the same time they need to let their kids be creative and have fun."
What is Live Healthy Red Wing hoping readers get out of the book?
"Lots of things," Horlitz said. "We hope people will think about and discuss the issues, and take a few of the 'free-range baby steps' in the book. We hope people will start meeting and trusting their neighbors more because that makes our community safer for everyone. And we hope people get outside and have a good time."
Live Healthy Red Wing invites citizens to read "Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children."
As you read, ask the following questions:
• What is something you did in childhood that allowed you freedom outdoors? Do children still do this today?
• When reading the book, when did you say, "I want to try this" and "I would never try this"? Why and why not?
• If you have wanted to give kids more freedom today, or in the past, what obstacles or concerns make it difficult?
• How can you as a parent, grandparent, neighbor, friend, or resident help children feel comfortable and safe enjoying and exploring the outdoors on their own?
What: Red Wing book read
Where to get books: Red Wing Public Library (50 copies); Best of Times Bookstore ($14.95)
What to do: First, read the book, discuss with friends, try one of the book's "free-range baby steps"
• Attend the citywide book discussion in April
• Join the online conversation by going to www.livehealthyredwing.org and clicking on the Facebook page, or emailing a message.
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