In The Ithaca Voice Mayor Svante Myrick stated, “We believe in the power of play. Given the choice between living here, where your kids can run outside and find a bunch of friends to play with, and another city where just allowing your kids to walk home from the park could get you arrested, we know that families will joyfully choose Ithaca.”

Too many good, loving families are being torn apart by interference from child protection agencies because in today’s society letting your child play unaccompanied is viewed by many as a crime. Parents who want their children to be able to learn how to negotiate life on their terms own in certain reasonable settings and situations will finally have the right to do so in this forward-thinking New York city.

The mayor’s proclamation is non-binding, which means it isn’t going to be introduced into local laws. While it isn’t legally binding, it will lay the groundwork for a new societal standard in the area. Under this new non-binding proclamation, Ithaca children will be permitted to:

• Travel to and from school without an adult.
• Play outdoors independently.
• Remain unattended for a reasonable period of time.

Mayor Myrick also went on to say, “Unstructured outdoor free play has been shown to improve children’s creativity, social skills, communication skills, conflict resolution skills, socio-emotional learning, behavior self-regulation skills, (and) ability to assess and manage risk.”

This is a tremendous first step toward taking the child protective system’s power back and giving it to families, and it’s a huge win for the families of New York. Ithaca is following Utah’s lead, as the state passed their own free-range parenting law in May of this year. We hope to see more cities and states follow Utah and Ithaca’s lead.

The family in this video is just one of many who have been harmed by child protection workers for letting their children be normal kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zZlKOlvau4

Learn more about the free-range movement from its founder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ln_tYVoDpM

Learn more about the legalization of free-range parenting in Utah.