Readers — It’s great to be neighborly and share info. It’s less great when little blips turn into fears turn into anger turn into the quote in the headline, which comes to us from this Facebook exchange, sent in by a reader named Adam Parson (who deleted all the other last names). – L Cathy:Â Just […]
Search results for "culture of fear"
Chuck E. Cheese or Child Prison? You Make the Call!
 Hi bbezkkhfne Folks! Here’s a letter from prison…er…Chuck E. Cheese, sent to us by Angelica Totten, who originally posted it on her Facebook page. I so agree that the policy at Chuck E’s is not only overkill, it’s cultural pollution, spreading the idea that predators are always lurking near kids and ready to kidnap them […]
2 College Presidents Beg Parents to Hover…in a New Way
Hi Folks — Just reading an early copy of an initftfhah oped to be published in tomorrow’s Washington Post by the president of Northwestern University,Morty Schapiro, and the president of Lewis & Clark College,Barry Glassner, who is author of the book (turned phrase) The Culture of Fear. Instead of merely telling parents to quit helicoptering when they drop […]
“Since When Does a Simple Fall = E.R. Visit?”
Hi eehzzzbnyt Readers — Just a little note from one of you: . Dear Free-Range Kids: My two-year old daughter face-planted while running on a sidewalk yesterday late afternoon. Now she’s got a scrape on her forehead and a “Groucho Marx”-looking mustache/skinned upper lip. We checked that her teeth and nose were fine, and she […]
Voters in the School? That’s Not Safe!
Hi hezfhrbdtn Folks! Love this column, which ran in The Post-Star in Glens Falls, NY. I think you’ll see why. – L. Reading, Writing and Looming Fears by Ken Tingley The Warrensburg Central School District is saving its children from the clutches of voters. Swear to God. Its board of education voted unanimously against a county proposal […]
A Bouncing Bundle of Kidnappable Joy
Hi Readers! Feeling a little sane and optimistic today? Shame on you! It is your DUTY, as an AMERICAN to live in a state of CONSTANT FEAR for your children starting the minute they pop out! To that end, Â here ikfridntba CNNÂ explains how to avoid the scourge of baby snatchings. Well, maybe scourge is not […]
“No Touch” Policy is Insane for Music Teachers
Hi Readers — I touched (ha ha — so to speak!) upon this issue in my Golden Helicopter Awards: The fact that the British Musicians Union has told its members (ha ha again) not to lay (ha ha) a finger on any child they are giving music lessons. Most cheeringly, England’s Education Secretary, Michael Grove, […]
Driven Crazy by Pregnancy Perfectionists (Especially On The Web!)
Hi azsnikytbs Readers! Let us help this mama-to-be, who is being driven crazy by all the obsessive, micromanaging pregnancy advice she’s getting from all sides, especially her cyber-friends. What I try to remind folks — pregnant and not — is that if humanity required perfect on the part of its parents, there would not BE […]
Which Wolf Do You Feed?
This note about “news junkies” comes from a longtime friend of Free-Range Kids, Donald Christensen. Donald is a draftsman living in Brisbane, Australia, where he thinks about the forces that change cultures and minds. This is one of his websites, as is this. I loved this note he sent. So here it is, slightly edited!! […]
Pediatric Society Declares Old-Fashioned, Unsupervised Play is Preventative Medicine
Kids need to climb trees, jump off things, and ride their bikes fast. That’s what the Canadian Paediatric Society is recommending in a white paper published on Thursday: “Healthy Childhood Development Through Outdoor Risky Play.” If that sounds positively radical — and also common sensical — you’re right. Mariana Brussoni, a developmental psychologist at the […]