Posted on May 3rd, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers — Here’s a story from Australia sure to make any parent shudder: YOUNG mother Elizabeth Cardwell thought she was doing the right thing when she strapped her precious eight-week-old baby, wrapped in a blanket, into a hand-me-down car seat. Her daughter, Isabella Rose, was still tucked inside her blanket when her tiny body was [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Media Madness, Miscellaneous | 73 Comments »
Posted on May 2nd, 2013 by lskenazy
Folks — Here you go. This is just sort of an hors d’oeuvre (world’s hardest word to spell) for the day: Your daily dose of Zero Tolerance insanity WITH a dash of hope at the end! According to WRAL in North Carolina: PRINCETON, N.C. — The Princeton High School community is rallying around a student who [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies | 84 Comments »
Posted on May 1st, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers: This is a story about an unpredictable scientific reaction — and an all too predictable school over-reaction. According to the Miami New Times blog: Kiera Wilmot got good grades and had a perfect behavior record. She wasn’t the kind of kid you’d expect to find hauled away in handcuffs and expelled from school, but [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Breaking news, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies | 61 Comments »
Posted on May 1st, 2013 by lskenazy
Folks — As you know, this site believes in safety for children. That includes safety from predators as well as safety from hysteria ABOUT predators. Unfortunately, fear for our children has mestastasized into an ever-expanding Sex Offender Registry that now includes even pre-pubescent children, some of them on the list for LIFE, for crimes ranging [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Media Madness, Miscellaneous, Sex Offender Issues | 60 Comments »
Posted on April 23rd, 2013 by lskenazy
Hi Folks — I’ve got a piece up over at Common Good about a jury awarding a family quite a gargantuan sum after their daughter, 13, died crossing the street to her school bus stop. What can a ruling like this do to childhood? Feel free to check out my worries. — L. Should kids [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Walk to School / Stay Home Alone / Wait in Car | 53 Comments »
Posted on April 17th, 2013 by lskenazy
Hi Readers — Security guru Bruce Schneier (author of “Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust That Society Needs to Thrive,”) is so right about a whole lot of things, including the fact that we should almost ignore what’s on the news when it comes to making both policy and personal decisions. Why? Because the news is [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Bikes and cycling, Miscellaneous, Stupid Advice, Worst-First Thinking | 28 Comments »
Posted on April 8th, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers – At the request of the woman who wrote to me about her husband landing on the Sex Offender List for 25 years for putting a $5 tip down a 17-year-old’s shirt, I have taken down her post. I share her concern that some of the comments were painful. We all agree, I’m sure, [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Sex Offender Issues | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 7th, 2013 by lskenazy
Hi Folks — We all agree that it makes sense to be aware of child abuse, and even to look out for it. But to assume “Abuse!” when another explanation is not only proffered but also likely, well, that is classic worst-first thinking: Leaping to the WORST conclusion FIRST and proceeding as if it simply [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Child Protective Services, Miscellaneous | 93 Comments »
Posted on April 4th, 2013 by lskenazy
Hi Readers! There’s the boogey man and then there’s the ice cream man. But thanks to a country suffused with predator panic, the two are fused together like the twin sticks of a Popsicle. It’s the same if you are guy and you want to work in day care, or as a birthday party clown, [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Eek! A Male! (and Stranger Danger), Miscellaneous, Sex Offender Issues, Uber Safety | 73 Comments »
Posted on April 3rd, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers — This is the continuing story of the 6-year-old detained by the cops for walking outside. It is disturbing and distressing. The family needs pro bono legal help. If any of you are lawyers or know someone who can help, please let me know and I will forward the info to the family. Remember: [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Child Protective Services, Helicopter Effect on Kids, Infantilizing young folk, Miscellaneous, Walk to School / Stay Home Alone / Wait in Car | 401 Comments »
