Hi Readers — My friend Nancy McDermott, a columnist at Spiked-Online, wrote this to me the other day. It was not apropos of the Sandy Hook shooting, just apropos of being alive, being a parent, and being a realist, which means (believe it or not) being grateful. – L. My son turned 10 the other day [...]
Filed under: Miscellaneous | 29 Comments »
Hi Readers! Wondering what’s happening at your local schools, vis a vis more security. My older son’s high school is conducting a lockdown drill today, my younger son’s principal emailed home a comforting note but did not discuss any new procedures. One reader wrote: Dear Free-Range Kids: I’m wondering if anyone has contacted or is [...]
Filed under: Breaking news, Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies, Uber Safety | 131 Comments »
Hi Folks — I know everyone’s obviously tense at the moment, but here’s a classic overreaction: When some boys were shooting a video of themselves acting out the body’s immune system using an umbrella, they were mistaken for psychopaths and the school went into lockdown. Kids hid and cried, parents careened to the school (and, [...]
Filed under: Breaking news, Miscellaneous, Uber Safety | 47 Comments »
Hi Readers — Here’s an issue I truly want help figuring out. I just got a comment on the post below this one (which was about why the Sandy Hook shooting feels so close) from a reader very far away: All the way over here in Australia, this pain is just as raw. The faces [...]
Filed under: Breaking news, Miscellaneous | 95 Comments »
Hi Readers — Here’s a piece I wrote for The Atlantic about the shooting. It’s not about gun control, it’s not about mental health services or the lack thereof. It’s about how living in modern, instantly connected times changes us, our reactions and our expectations. – L. A School Shooting in the Distance In the [...]
Filed under: Miscellaneous | 85 Comments »
Readers, my heart is like yours: Shattered. My perspective, however, may be a little different. It’s impossible not to feel afraid, sad, sickened and deeply pessimistic when something like this occurs. However, “something like this” — well, there aren’t a lot of somethings like this, and that’s a truth I am desperately trying to remind [...]
Filed under: Breaking news, Helicopter Effect on Kids, Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies | 124 Comments »
Hi Folks! Here’s a mom who requests your help on one of the issues of the day: The out-sourcing of playground squabbles to parents. I DO believe in being tuned in our kids, and providing them with comfort, support, wisdom and discipline. But what happens when the world around us expects something else: minute-by-minute involvement? [...]
Filed under: Guest Post, Helicopter Effect on Kids, Miscellaneous | 76 Comments »
Hi Readers! Here’s a question I’d love you to weigh in on — as would the writer, Maya. (And — totally off topic but too cool for me not to mention is that when I saw Maya’s unusual last name I asked her if she could possibly be related to a woman who shared it [...]
Filed under: Creating Community, Miscellaneous | 83 Comments »
And now, a new feature I think we’ll call the Liability Chronicles, chronicling the way insurance, lawsuits, lawyers and the fear of all three are changing the world. Starting with winter. We are the first generation of hominids to be scared to have normal winter fun. – L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: Our local ski [...]
Filed under: Insurance repercussions, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds, Uber Safety | 53 Comments »
Ah, readers, here’s a wild story of a busybody gone batty: Seeing a toddler left alone in a running car, some nut stole the car AND baby because he was “upset” with the dad for leaving the kid alone. But as the reader who sent this story to me, Michele, dryly noted: “It seems to me [...]
Filed under: Breaking news | 40 Comments »
