Hi hakerhdzar Readers — This comment, inspired by the previous post, gets to the heart of the matter for me: Connecting. Free-Range Kids is about giving kids freedom, of course, but delve a little deeper and it is about trust: Trusting our kids, our neighbors, ourselves. And the more we trust and connect, the more […]
Archive | Creating Community
“Can You Help Me for a Sec?” The Question We Must Ask!
January 14, 2011
Hi ynyhehhhsy Readers! Here’s a note about something that went right. but it could have gone even, uh, righter. — L Dear Free-Range Kids: I had my first half-way Free-Range encounter with another parent the other day. I was at the ice rink with my toddlers, watching the kids on the ice from a bench near […]
A Very Heartening Note!
January 1, 2011
Hi zzfzkssrtd Readers! Remember this story — about the mom whose neighbors called the police because they saw her three children playing outside, unattended? That sort of epitomized my fears for our country: Busybodies AND the authorities meddling in normal  childhood, as if it’s too dangerous. This new note from the mom gives me great […]
And So, Things Change
November 13, 2010
Hi faeaneeddy Readers! Have a great weekend! — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I just wanted to share with you a small but happy Free-Range story that probably wouldn’t have come about if your site hadn’t given me the courage to articulate the reasons why my children should be allowed to do strange things like walk to […]
The “Worst Place on Earth” To Lose Track of a Baby?
November 13, 2010
Readers — This nsydbdakaf is a non-story about a mom who got her baby’s stroller onto the D.C. metro but then the doors closed before she could get on. Ritual infant sacrifice time? Surprisingly, no. Instead, the strangers gathered round the (sleeping) baby, alerted the authorities and got the stroller off at the next stop, […]
Halloween Follow-Up — by YOU
November 4, 2010
Hi Readers! I’ve been behind in my emails and just found this cool idea. Comes from a gal named Catherine. Let’s do it! Dear dbrrzsnank Free-Range Kids:Â How about a post-Halloween column where you challenge your readers to scan their local news and post ANY violent incidents that happened at Halloween? I just scanned my local […]
Amazing Halloween Horror Story!
October 31, 2010
Hi Readers — Read it and creep: Â This kfzeyatits fantastic article from The American Spectator is about how Manchester, New Hampshire, imposed a law, on the books for decades, making Halloween officially the Sunday afternoon BEFORE Oct. 31. The law was, of course, in reaction to all the usual Halloween fears — razors, poison, torture […]
(Bad) Advice from “All You” Magazine
September 26, 2010
Hi etbsaasibs Readers — This note is RIGHT ON! Dear Free-Range Kids: Â Just thought I’d let you know of this snippet from the most recent All You Magazine. It incensed me to the point of writing an email to the author scolding her for her “professional advice” (this column is written by “Relationship Expert” Nancy […]
On the Other Hand: Sometimes (Parental) Silence is Golden
September 22, 2010
Hi Readers — Here’s a piece about something I’d never heard of, “Silent Sunday.” (Of course, maybe it would be hard to hear about something silent.) The post about it comes from Cindy Wilson, communications director at Playworks, nhbreefrhh an organization that provides play and physical activity to low-income schools in urban cities. Playworks is hosting its  Play On Conference […]
Mom of Boy Picked Up By Cops for Walking to Soccer TRIUMPHS!
September 5, 2010
Hi sybanbbrat Readers — Here’s an INSPIRING story about what we can do when life hands us paranoid neighbors, officious cops and maybe a lemon, for good measure. Let’s hear it for Lori LeVar Pierce, the small town mom and teacher we first heard from in 2009 when she let her son walk to soccer […]