Johnathan Melicia
Thomas Riddle
Eng. 111
July 2, 2015
Free Range Parenting In the article “ There’s Never Been a Safer Time to be a Kid in America,” by Christopher Ingraham, spring folds the spotlight parents are put on about letting their kids have free range while being unsupervised or having to be by their side while the child is wanting to go somewhere just down the road. This has parents contemplating on letting their child be alone even though there really is no reason to be dwelling over the worst that can happen. Marc Elrich, chairman of the Montgomery County Council’s Public Safety Committee, refers to Ingraham by stating “walked more than a mile on his own to school” and baffled that “All of our parents would have been in jail” if there was a problem with letting your kids walk safely down the road. Thus persuading the fact that kids should be able to be unsupervised because it is safer than it used to be; for example, child mortality rates have decreased, abduction rates have dropped, and children pedestrians being struck in traffic had fallen tremendously. The importance of imagery in this article is used to give the audience a sense of direction in order to see Ingraham’s point of view. He gives a clear analogy of how two siblings, 6 and 10, were walking home when they got picked up by the police and detain them in the car for three hours. Ingraham uses the words “searching for you frantically” to give the audience an image of what the parents would be doing if their children didn’t make it home. The image, “the sun sets, night falls,” gives a sense of anxiety in a way that the children are nervous that they won’t be reunited with their parents for a long time. Ingraham is establishing a tone that reinforces the urgency of the situation. The evidence that Ingraham uses in this article is well thought out. He states evidence about child mortality rates have fallen by nearly half, reports on missing children are down 40 percent since 1997, and child pedestrians are much less likely to be struck by cars today. He posted clear, understandable graphs that shows that child deaths are at an all-time low. He uses sources like the CDC data tabulated by Child trends, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, FBI’s data on missing persons, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as evidence for the graphs and evidence that supports his point of view. The author’s evidence is extremely relevant to the issue being argued by how he clearly states facts on his point of view. Ingraham justifies his point of view by saying, “If it was enough for you to play unsupervised outside when you were a kid, it’s even safer for your own children to do so today.” By what he states, he is bias towards the parents that are very over protective of their children. It’s not bad for parents to be over protective, but it’s good for the children to have some range to roam. Some children mature better when they experience life on their own. Christopher Ingraham does an amazing job at following up his evidence with great sources. The sources he use in this article gives great information on the highlighted argument he is stating. Well put together and understandable graphs are show on almost every sources that he is writing about. For example, how Ingraham credits authors like Bryan Caplan, he gives clear insight on what Mr. Caplan profession is. He also gives a clear understanding on how, in today’s world, it is much safer than it was when our parents were kids.
In conclusion, parents do not have to worry about their child being abducted, dying, or being struck by a driver as much as they use too. It is safe to infer that being a free-range parent is okay and that it is alright to let you children walk down the road unsupervised to the park. Thus persuading the fact that kids should be able to be unsupervised because it safer in today’s day and age than it used to be; child mortality rates has decreased majorly, abduction rates have plummeted, and children pedestrians being struck in traffic has fallen tremendously.

Work Cited
Cooper, Alexia. Smith, Erica L, “Homicide Trends in the United States,” U.S. Department of Justice, 1 Nov. 2011, Web, 1 July 2015.
“Infant, Child and Teen Mortality,” Child Trends, 3 Feb. 2015, Web, 2 July 2015.
“NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Statistics for 2014,” FBI, FBI, 23 Jan. 2014, Web, 2 July 2015.
“NCSA Publications and Data Requests,” NCSA Publications & Data Requests, Web 2 July 2015