Hi Readers!  According to this hsniakafyz story by Terri Sanginiti in Delaware Online, a mom  put her 3-year-old down for a nap and then went to take one herself. Unbeknownst to her, her daughter then got up and managed to get out of the house. When police found the little girl later, they went looking […]
Archive | Child Protective Services
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK: Cops Say It’s ILLEGAL for Kids to Play Outside, Unsupervised
Hi eshtifzfzz Folks — Here it is again. The creeping idea that anytime our kids are outside without us they are in DANGER, thus it is CRIME to take our eyes off them. The writer of the note below, from Western Maryland, also pens this blog. Here’s what’s happening out by her: Dear Free-Range Kids: […]
CPS Took My Kids Because I Don’t Hover
Hi rbhkrfzrrn Readers — A long, sad and infuriating story. Here goes: Dear Free-Range Kids: Â I noticed you sometimes talk about Child Protective Services (CPS) or other official intervention and Free-Range children. I have to admit, I did always wonder if I’d get in trouble for being the only mom who doesn’t wait at the […]
Is a Child “Unaccompanied” if the Parent Is Close By?
Hi fstazezsfz Readers! Here’s a recent letter that makes me hot under the collar (but not hot enough to turn on the A.C.). — L. (who can’t figure out how to get rid of this LINE!!) Dear Free-Range Kids: Well, I did it again: I sent my 4.5-year-old inside the library to walk the 20 […]
"You Are a Horrible Mother" — Letter
Hi nbaiytitay Readers: Just got this note tonight. Thought I’d share it. The writer must have recently stumbled on “Why I Let My 9-year-old Ride the Subway Alone.” — L. [To Lenore]: In my opinion you are a horrible mother. You knowingly put your child in harms way. Yes its true, chances are its not […]
Beware the Vultures
Readers: tzrfyfasek This is a topic we have visited before, but it continues to grow as an “issue.” Today in my inbox I got this notice from “Safe Kids,” urging people to call 911 whenever they see a kid in a car, and using this tragic story as its rationale — the story of a […]
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK: Mom Ticketed for Letting Son, 14, Watch Brother, 3, for 30 Mins
Hi Readers — Just as we were rejoicing about sanity across the sea (see below, bkdisbkhsa regarding Britain’s re-evaluation of its excessive background checks), comes this story, from The Express: A MOTHER who left her son of 14 to mind his three-year-old brother while she went to the shops was given a police caution for […]
“For the Good of the Children”??
Hi Readers — Just had to share the story I heard yesterday when I went to get some blood drawn. (I’m fine.) The phlebotomist and I started chatting and somehow she ended up telling me that three weeks ago her 6-year-old son badly burned himself when he accidentally spilled a bowl of soup into his […]
THE 2010 “GOLDEN HELICOPTER PARENTING AWARDS”
FREE-RANGE nsfdhdsfkd KIDS PRESENTS THE 2010 GOLDEN HELICOPTER PARENTING AWARDS FOR GREAT MOMENTS IN OVER-PARENTING And Media Fear-mongering About Kids PRESENTED BY LENORE SKENAZY, FOUNDER OF “FREE-RANGE KIDS†(www.freerangekids.com) Free-Range Kids is the book, blog and movement dedicated to giving kids back the fun and freedom of childhood — the kind of childhood that makes […]
Outrage of the Week: Mom Ticketed for Letting Boy Walk to School
Readers — I think I need a Valium. Read this. A mom is ticketed for letting her 5.5 year old son walk home from school. Even though she BEGGED the school to let him take the bus. Even though she went to city council meetings and BEGGED the town to put in crossing guards. Even […]