Wisconsin Cities Among Safest in U.S. For 'Free-Range Parenting'

Free-range parenting. You've heard the term in the news, but what exactly does it mean? According to Wikipedia, it "is the concept of raising children in the spirit of encouraging them to function independently and with limited parental supervision" based on age and other factors.

For its annual Safest Cities to Raise a Child study for 2018, home security company SafeWise decided to rank the best communities where the free-range parenting concept can be practiced. The study found that Wisconsin has more safe cities for free-range children than any other state—32 percent of their top fifty cities hail from the Badger State.

"Due to recent news about free-range parenting—Utah even passed a law—we decided to factor that parenting style into our research," writes SafeWise. "We dug deep into eight factors to help us identify the safest cities to raise children—those who remain under close supervision and those who are allowed to wander on their own."

Those eight factors are rates and numbers of:

• Violent crimes
• AMBER Alerts
• Sex offenders
• Child abuse
• School quality
• Pedestrian deaths
• Walkability score
• State free-range parenting legislation

"Each score was standardized to calculate their total score and ranking. City-specific data was given extra weight, and high scores (overall) were most favorable," writes SafeWise. To read the methodology, click here and scroll to the bottom of the story.

7. Monroe, Wisconsin

10. Burlington, Wisconsin

11. Cedarburg, Wisconsin

15. Baraboo, Wisconsin16. Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

17. Hartford, Wisconsin

21. Village of Waunakee, Wisconsin

23. Hudson, Wisconsin

24. Grafton, Wisconsin

27. Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

28. Marinette, Wisconsin

To read SafeWise's full 50 Safest Cities to Raise a Child 2018, click here.

Image Via Shutterstock