Discussion

In your exam, you are also asked to discuss whether ‘free-range’ parenting is responsible or irresponsible, taking your starting point in one of the texts. You are also required to use at least two of the following phrases: initially, whereas, consequently, on the contrary, yet, however, finally.

When discussing this topic, you should first have a clear picture of how the two texts present the problem, who argues that ‘free-range’ parenting is responsible and who that it is irresponsible.

“What exactly is this whole “free-range kid” thing?”

In “What exactly is this whole “free-range kid” thing?”, Lenore Skenazy argues that ‘free-range’ parenting is responsible and that it should be a matter of parents’ choice how much freedom they grant their children.

However, her position seems to be contradicted by Child Protective Services and concerned neighbors in the case of the Meitiv family who have left their children to walk alone to a park a mile away.

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“What Kind Of Parent Are You? The Debate Over ‘Free-Range’ Children”

In “What Kind Of Parent Are You? The Debate Over ‘Free-Range’ Children”, we are presented with both pro and against arguments related to the issue of ‘free-range’ parenting.

Katie Arnold believes that ‘free-range; parenting is responsible and “appreciates what Danielle Meitiv was doing by letting her kids out on their own.” (ll. 7-8), whereas Denene Millner thinks it is “a bit much to let a 6-year-old and a 10-year-old walk a mile and play in the park for an hour by themselves without an adult.” (ll. 12-13)

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