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Blake D. Moore
Republican·Utah

Congressman Blake Moore Introduces Bill to Protect Parents and Promote Childhood Independence

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Representatives Jennifer McClellan (D-VA) and Virginia Foxx (R-NC) are original co-leads of this legislation. Today, more than ever before, children are spending time indoors, on screens, and alone rather than playing outside and socializing with other kids. This has caused increased anxiety, depression, and a lack of social skills. A culture shift in parenting has created a fear of investigation, separation, and even arrest if parents choose to allow their child to play and explore unsupervised, even though such activity is a key part of children growing into competent adults. A study by the Institute for Family Studies found that American kids spend enormous amounts of time online with very few significant restrictions. Yet they have very strict limits on their activities in the real world. The study also found that the key factor in determining whether or not children have rich social lives with their friends is simply how much freedom parents allow them. The Promoting Childhood Independence and Resilience Act underlines state efforts, including in Utah, to promote a freer, healthier childhood. It clarifies the definition of "neglect" to ensure parents aren't punished for allowing independent play—a critical component of childhood development. This legislation also requires a study by the Department of Health and Human Services on how states can best empower parents; pushes states to train child welfare staff; and ensures that grants to states for child abuse or neglect prevention can be used to educate child welfare staff on the importance of reasonable independence activities. “ Neighborhood games, park days, errands, and bike rides with friends defined my childhood. Now raising my own boys, it’s clear that parents are too often forgoing unstructured activities for youth in favor of indoor time on screens," Rep. Moore said. "We must restore the normalcy of outdoor exploration and protect parents who want to give their children more freedom to safely play unsupervised. While there are numerous pieces to this puzzle, we must ensure that parents aren’t acting out of fear of a child welfare report or investigation. Parents shouldn’t be judged for doing what is best for their kids; we need to make things easier on American parents, not increasingly harder. The Promoting Childhood Independence and Resilience Act ensures that reasonable unsupervised activities do not constitute child neglect and educates child welfare agencies about the salience of independent activity. It’s time we empower parents to help the next generation play outside, get off screens, and learn independence and responsibility—just like my childhood memories, the time to come home is when the neighborhood parents yell, ‘Come on home boys!’” “ In an increasingly digital world, our kids and teenagers spend less time exploring independent play and more time online,” Rep. McClellan said. "The Promoting Childhood Independence and Resilience Act will help chart a new path forward by encouraging children to participate in reasonable independent activities, promoting time outside with in-p

Source: https://blakemoore.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-blake-moore-introduces-bill-to-protect-parents-and-promote-childhood-independence
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