https://reason.com/2022/05/11/kids-playing-at-recess-security-school-safety/ Reason.com - Free Minds and Free MarketsReason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets Reason logoReason logo Reason logoReason logo * Home * Latest * Magazine + Current Issue + Archives + Subscribe * Video * Podcasts + All Shows + The Reason Roundtable + The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie + The Soho Forum Debates * Volokh * Newsletters * Donate + Donate Online + Donate Crypto + Ways To Give To Reason Foundation + Torchbearer Society + Planned Giving * Subscribe + Print/Digital Subscriptions + Gift Subscriptions Search for: [ ] [Search] You are now logged in. Email Address[ ] Password[ ] Log In Forgot your password? Create new account Free-Range Kids I Stopped To Watch Kids Playing at Recess. Security Was Called. "I really think I'm allowed to stay here," I explained, in vain. Lenore Skenazy | 5.11.2022 4:39 PM Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Media Contact & Reprint Requests dreamstime_xxl_60190314dreamstime_xxl_60190314 (Sergey Novikov | Dreamstime.com) It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood--that neighborhood being Queens in New York City. I was walking by one of the local elementary schools and slowed down to watch the girls doing cartwheels at recess. They practice it over and over again, which is proof that kids learn frustration-tolerance and focus during unstructured free play. That's why I'm such a fan of it. I stopped to watch another gaggle of kids playing hopscotch like I used to do. The teacher or teacher's aide looked over at me through a 20-foot-high chainlink fence and said: "Ma'am, you cannot stand there. You have to move." "I can't stand here on the public sidewalk?" I asked. "No," she said. "You're not allowed to watch the kids." "I think I am," I replied. "I'm on a public sidewalk. I'm not taking pictures and I don't even have my phone out." "You have to leave." "I really think I'm allowed to stay here," I said, half angry, half baffled. I am allowed to stay on a public sidewalk, separated from the kids by a fence, aren't I? "If you don't leave, I'm calling security," she said. I shrugged but decide to leave. I hate confrontations. After walking a bit beyond the playground, I paused to think about what had just happened. I took out my phone and tweeted this: Walked by my local elementary school. Stopped to watch the kids playing at recess. So much joy. Teacher told me I, on public sidewalk on other side of fence, no phone or photo taking, am not allowed to stand and watch the kids. She is calling security now. -- Lenore Skenazy (@FreeRangeKids) May 11, 2022 Out of curiosity, and also a growing ember of rage, I went back to see if security had indeed been called. The teacher (or playground worker or paraprofessional--I don't know her exact job title) was talking to another woman, who walked to the fence and told me that she is security and I have to move along. "But why?" I asked. "I'm not doing anything bad. I'm just watching the kids." "That's not allowed." "Because?" "Because we get bad people coming by here. They expose themselves. They take pictures of the kids." "But I'm not exposing myself or taking pictures." "We can't let anyone watch the kids. There's just too much bad stuff out there. People expose themselves. These are someone else's children and it's our job to keep them safe!" "How many men have exposed themselves this year?" I asked, feigning curiosity, but really hoping to make a point. "This year? So far, none." "Zero the whole year?" I asked. "The school year isn't over yet." She's right. There's another entire month of school. I don't think she's secretly hoping for a least one flasher, to reinforce the importance of her role. But I don't think that actual facts--no exhibitionists in recent memory--seem to matter very much to her. "It's sad, but that's just the way it is," she said. As I have said since I founded Free-Range Kids in 2008, and since starting Let Grow in 2017, our society is set on overestimating danger and underestimating kids. The same society that arrests moms for letting their kids wait briefly in the car is the society that won't let kids off the bus without a (pre-approved) adult waiting to walk them home is the society that won't tolerate a person watching children frolic at recess, even when separated by a fence. Fear has twisted its way into everyday life. It has choked off common sense. Now it's taboo to trust anything, or anyone--even a lady on the sidewalk, smiling as she thinks back on her own hopscotch games long ago. And so I was shooed along, collateral damage in the quest to wrap every child in a bubble of perfect safety. Now I sit at my computer, wondering: What would it take to give every one of them a nice, sharp pin? (Though some authority would no doubt accuse me of distributing weapons to children.) NEXT: The New York Times Uses a CDC Report on Homicides As an Excuse To Attack Private Gun Ownership Lenore Skenazy is president of Let Grow, a nonprofit promoting childhood independence and resilience, and founder of the Free-Range Kids movement. Free-Range KidsChildren's RightsChildren Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Media Contact & Reprint Requests Show Comments (123) Latest The Failed Senate Abortion Bill Went Far Beyond Preserving Current Rights Jacob Sullum | 5.12.2022 5:30 PM The End of Roe Heralds the Rise of Pro-Abortion, Big Government Policies Christian Britschgi | 5.12.2022 5:05 PM Facing Education Crisis, Biden Admin Seeks to Restrict Charter Schools Matt Welch | 5.12.2022 4:15 PM The V.A. Bought 10,000 iPhones for Veterans. 8,544 of Them Were Never Used. Fiona Harrigan | 5.12.2022 3:40 PM A Global Tax Cartel Would Be as Bad as It Sounds Veronique de Rugy | 5.12.2022 3:27 PM Recommended * About * Browse Topics * Events * Staff * Jobs * Donate * Advertise * Subscribe * Contact * Media * Shop * Amazon Reason FacebookReason TwitterReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeReason ItunesReason on FlipboardReason RSS (c) 2022 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use