The Goldilocks principle and your child’s afternoons

September 17 2018

Growing up, my after-school routine was pretty simple. My sister and I would get home, eat a snack, and head outside until sunset, the universal curfew for that era. I recall a few years of piano and dance lessons, but for the most part, we enjoyed what has come to be known as “unstructured play.”

Well-publicized crimes committed against children began to chip away at the idea that children could adequately take care of themselves in the few hours between school and dinner. In addition to crime, accidents of many types could occur while children roamed the neighborhood [...]