The Case for Letting Children Have Freedom
家長放手 讓子女更自由
By Jane E. Brody

Lenore Skenazy, a New York City mother of two, earned the nickname “America’s Worst Mom” after reporting in a newspaper column that she had allowed her younger son, then 9, to ride the subway alone.
紐約市的蕾諾兒．史肯納齊是兩個小孩的媽，因為在報紙專欄披露讓當時九歲的次子單獨搭地鐵，被封為「美國最爛的母親」。

The criticism she endured, including a threat of arrest for child endangerment, intensified her desire to encourage parents to give their children the freedom they need to develop self-confidence and resilience.
她承受的批評，包括差點因置小孩於危險罪被捕，強化了她鼓勵家長給子女必要的自由，以發展自信心和抗障性的意願。

One result was the publication in 2009 of her book “Free Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts With Worry).” A second result is the Free Range Kids Project and a 13-part TV series, “World’s Worst Mom.” In it, Ms. Skenazy rescue children from parents’ overprotective by guiding the children safely through a sequence of once-forbidden activities and showing the parents how well the children do.
成果之一是她2009年出版《放養的孩子：如何教出安全、自立的子女（不用擔心到抓狂）》專書。成果之二是「放養子女」計畫和13集的電視節目《世上最爛的母親》。節目中，史肯納齊引導孩童從事原本遭禁止的活動，向家長展示子女能做得多好，藉此將孩童從保護過頭的家長手中救出。

Parents who subscribe to Ms. Skenazy’s approach include Danielle and Alexander Meitiv in Washington. The couple made news recently after allowing their children – Rafi, 10, and Dvora, 6 – to walk home along from a local park. The children were stopped by the police, and the family is now under investigation by a social agency.
認同史肯納齊這套方法的家長包括華府的麥提夫夫妻亞歷山大與丹妮兒。在允許十歲的拉菲和六歲的德沃拉從附近公園單獨走回家後，兩夫妻上了新聞。孩童被警察攔下，社會局正在調查麥提夫一家。

In the first episode of “World’s Worst Mom,” 10-year-old Sam’s mother won’t let him ride a bike (“she’s afraid I’ll fall and get hurt”), cut up his own meat or play “rough sports” like skating. The plea from Sam: “I just want to do things by myself.”
在《世上最爛的母親》第一集中，十歲的山姆，媽媽不讓他騎單車（「她怕我摔倒受傷」），或自己切肉片，滑冰之類的「粗野運動」也不行。山姆的懇求是：「我只是想靠自己做事情。」

In an interview, Ms. Skenazy said, “Having been brainwashed by all the stories we hear, there’s a prevailing fear that any time you’re not directly supervising your child, you’re putting the child in danger.” The publicity given to crimes has created an exaggerated fear of the dangers children face if left to navigate and play on their own.
史肯納齊女士接受訪問時說：「我們被聽聞過的各種報導傳聞洗腦，普遍的恐懼感是任何時候只要你沒有親自盯著子女，就是置小孩於險境。」犯罪事件引起的注意，過度放大了對孩童單獨探索玩耍時所面臨危險的恐懼。

But Peter Gray, a psychologist at Boston College, said: “The actual rate of strangers abducting or molesting children is very small. It’s more likely to happen at the hands of a relative or family friend. The statistics show no increase in childhood dangers. If anything, there’s been a decrease.”
波士頓學院心理學家彼得．葛雷卻說：「孩童被陌生人綁架騷擾發生率其實很低，親戚或家庭友人反而更有可能動手。統計數據並未顯示孩童的危險增加。實情是這種危險反而一直在減少。」

Dr. Gray, author of “Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life,” said, “If children are not allowed to take routine risks, they’ll be less likely to be able to handle real risks when they do occur.”
葛雷博士著有《自由學習：為何解放玩耍本能將讓子女更快樂、更自立、更適應人生》。他說：「如果不讓孩童在例行普通的活動冒險，真正遇上危險時，恐怕就比較應付不來。」

His college’s counseling office has seen a doubling in emergency calls in the last five years, “mainly for problems kids used to solve on their own,” like being called a bad name by a roommate.
波士頓學院的輔導室發現五年來緊急求救的電話數倍增，「主要是孩童以往自己解決的問題」，像是被室友辱罵。

In the past, children made up their own games and acquired important life skills in the process. “In pickup games,” Dr. Gray said, “children make the rules, negotiate, and figure out what’s fair to keep everyone happy. They develop creativity, empathy and the ability to read the minds of other players.”
過去，孩童自創遊戲，過程中學到重要技巧。在「搭車遊戲」中，葛雷博士說，「孩童制定規則、協調、找出讓每個人都開心的公平方式。孩童發展創造力、同理心和看透別人心思的能力。」

Dr. Gray links the rise in childhood depression and anxiety to the decline in free play among young children. “Young people today are less likely to have a sense of control over their own lives and more likely to feel they are the victims of circumstances,” he said.
葛雷博士將孩童抑鬱焦慮壓力的上升，歸咎於幼童間自由玩耍的減少。他說：「時下的年輕人對於自己的生活可能比較沒有控制感，比較可能自認是環境的受害者。」

Children today spend many more hours indoors than in years past, which in part accounts for the rise in childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes. As Ms. Skenazy put it, “if parents truly believe children must be supervised every second of the day, then they can’t walk to school, play in the park, or wake up Saturday morning, get on their bikes and go have an adventure.”
現在的孩童待在室內的時間遠比過去多，孩童肥胖和第二型糖尿病增加，部分原因與此有關。史肯納齊是這麼說的：「如果家長堅信每天時時刻刻都得監看子女，那麼子女將不能走路上學、去公園玩耍、或者周六早上起床後，騎上單車去嘗試探索新的事物。」

原文參照：
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/advice-from-americas-worst-mom/

2015-02-03聯合報/G5版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 張佑生譯 原文參見紐時週報十版左