Lenore Skenazy

Lenore Skenazy

Journalist

A woman with glasses and curly hair, smiling, wearing a sequined shawl and a red top, seated in a room with a bookshelf in the background.

After letting her 9-year-old ride the subway alone (and getting slammed in the media), Lenore Skenazy wrote the book Free-Range Kids, which grew into the Free-Range Kids movement. Now she is president of Let Grow, the national nonprofit she co-founded with three others, making it easy, normal, and legal to give kids back some old-fashioned independence. Lenore's feisty belief that our kids are stronger and safer than our culture gives them credit for has landed her on The Daily Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Dr. Phil, The View, Anderson Cooper, Fox News, NPR, BBC, and CBC.

A former New York Daily News reporter, she lives in New York City with her husband and beloved computer. And, for the record, she used to write for Mad Magazine. Yep -- MAD!

Let Grow has free independence-building materials for schools and parents, and ideas for lawmakers, too. Check it all out at Let Grow! 

A child in a yellow hoodie and blue boots holds a parent's hand, engaging in play as they walk on a log in a wooded area. The parent, clad in jeans and matching blue boots, guides the little adventurer through nature's playground.
Plenty of parents feel guilty about wanting to skip playtime, but there's no need.
Young people could even end up less anxiety-ridden, thanks to newfound confidence
Charles Koch Foundation
3 min
Parents need to wean themselves off of the idea that they must be constantly available to their child and vice versa.
4 min
Author Lenore Skenazy is tired of helicopter parents messing up their kids.
5 min
At some point in the past thirty years it became taboo to let your kids play outside without supervision. What's with that?
12 min
Lenore Skenazy, who advocates for the free-range kids style of parenting, helps you learn to stop over-obsessing about your children.