Lenore Skenazy (/lɪˈnɔːrskəˈneɪzi/) is an American speaker, blogger, syndicated columnist, author, and reality show host, known for her activism in favor of free-range parenting. In 2008, she wrote a controversial column on her decision to let her then-9-year-old son take the New York City Subway home alone. The piece became a national story, prompting massive media attention. She was dubbed "America's Worst Mom".[1] In response, Skenazy wrote Free-Range Kids, adding a blog of the same name. She is the president of Let Grow, co-founded in 2018 with Daniel Shuchman, Peter Gray and Jonathan Haidt,[2] an organisation advocating free-range parenting.
Skenazy spent fourteen years as a columnist for the New York Daily News, but was fired in December 2006.[3] She wrote about “intriguing oddballs”, such as a couple who got married underwater. She was featured in the 2006 Bravo series Tabloid Wars, which focused on Daily News journalists.[4] She subsequently moved to The New York Sun and wrote there until closed in 2008.
Lenore Skenazy speaking at PorcFest, New Hampshire Porcupine Freedom Festival
Skenazy proposed May 22, 2010, as the first "Take Our Children to the Park & Leave Them There Day"—a day for children to learn how to play by themselves without constant supervision.[10] In 2012 Skenazy hosted the reality television show World's Worst Mom on Discovery Life. The 13-episode series features Skenazy visiting anxious parents, including the mother of a 10-year-old who she still spoon-fed; the mother of an 8-year-old who bought home a skateboard, but only let him "ride" it on the grass, and the mother of a 13-year-old who still took him into the ladies' room.[11]
In 2017, Skenazy co-founded the nonprofit Let Grow, along with Jonathan Haidt, Daniel Shuchman and Peter Gray. Let Grow's mission is to make it "easy, normal, and legal to give kids the independence they need to grow into capable, confident and happy adults." Its free materials for parents, schools, and counselors help them encourage independence and unstructured, unsupervised free play and real-world responsibility for adolescents and children.[12][13][14][15] In 2018, Utah became the first state in the U.S. to pass the Free-Range Parenting bill, assuring parents that they can give their children some independence without this being mistaken for neglect, for which the Washington Post credited Skenazy's 2008 column as a contributing influence.[16] Similar laws recognizing reasonable childhood independence have since been enacted in other states, including Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. Several other states have relaxed laws regarding some aspects of childhood independence.[17]
Skenazy is a frequent contributing writer for Reason magazine, covering mostly topics related to her concept of Free-range parenting as well as overprotective parents and laws that punish parents when they leave their children unsupervised.[18]
Personal life
Skenazy is Jewish.[19][20] Her paternal grandparents emigrated from Çanakkale, Turkey.[21] Her maternal grandparents came from Russia and Poland.
Who’s the Blonde that Married What’s-His-Name: The Ultimate Tip of the Tongue Test of Everything You Know You Know…But Can’t Remember Right Now (Penguin Books, June 2009)
"The Dysfunctional Family Christmas Songbook" (Broadway Books, 2004), with co-author John Boswell.
"When Good Parents Get Arrested". Reader's Digest. May 2016.
Why Parents are More Paranoid than Ever, NY Post, March 31, 2018
