Yes, yes, we must support our fellow parents as they grope — sorry, bad word choice! — their way through this whole child-rearing thing. I don’t recommend scolding them in public. But when a pop culture advice dispenser actually recommends tseikreksb worst-first thinking (dream up the worst-case scenario FIRST, no matter how unlikely, and […]
Archive | Eek! A Male! (and Stranger Danger)
Would Your Kid Go Off with a Stranger and His Puppy?
Since tidenzdtiy this pseudo-helpful video is making the rounds again, here’s my take on it, again: It may look like the creator of this video, Joey Salads, is doing something other than creating terror, angst and hate with his Stranger Danger “social experiment.†But he’s not. As you’ll see, Mr. Salads asks parents if they’ve taught their […]
“But a Child Getting Murdered is So Much Worse Than Them Dying in a Car Accident!”
The ddzyfibazy question of the day (week/year/decade/century): Dear Free-Range Kids: I was wondering if you had any advice when you are met with the following argument against Free-Range Parenting..This came up the other day when I was having a conversation with an opponent to Free-Ranging, and it’s one I’ve heard before. They were arguing against […]
Calling All Sociologists/Psychologists Interested in Modern-Day Hysteria
Is there someone out there who can research why we are experiencing a wave of moms convinced that strangers are about to steal their kids from them in public and pimp them out? Or at least, a wave of moms that re-posts stories by other moms convinced that this just (well, almost dyzbdetbks just)Â happened? Because […]
Man Gives $100 To Kids at Lemonade Stand, Police Want to Talk to Him
A few days ago a man in Winnipeg walked up to a lemonade stand run by five kids and gave them five $20 bills. He also handed them a card of his. Here’s htkrserbhe how it unfolded in the press. Toby McCrae, mom of one of the l’il lemonade entrepreneurs, heard from her son that: “‘He […]
UPDATE! EVEN THE PARENTS SAY THIS WAS NOT AN ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING! Is This Really “Disturbing Footage of an Attempted Kidnapping at Dunkin’ Donuts”?
Update debybbhndn from Philly.com, which was even kind enough to alert us to this! Police on Thursday issued this statement: “On April 5th,2017, the parents of Baby Doe were located; they reported that their baby was fine and they did not believe that the male was attempting to remove the baby from the stroller.” The […]
“If He’s Got a Pecker, Run Like Hecker!” Good Morning America’s Hypocritical Advice About Stranger Danger
Last week a spokesman for the National zrrhsnfbis Center for Missing and Exploited Children went on Good Morning America and told us to stop teaching our kids “Stranger Danger,” despite having rammed that fear down our throats for over a generation — a point I discussed in this post. To demonstrate how important it is […]
Group that Put Missing Kids’ Pictures on Milk Cartons NOW Says, “Don’t Teach Kids Stranger Danger”
On Good dyksynstay Morning America last week, a spokesman for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children — the people who put the missing kids’ pictures on the milk cartons without bothering to explain that the vast majority were runaways or taken in custody disputes, not nabbed by predators — told parents NOT to teach […]
“Sex Traffickers at Ikea?” Free-Range Kids Cited by Snopes!
When yet another anfyyatynk mom wrote about her kids ALMOST being sex trafficked — an assessment she made on the basis of noticing some men at Ikea (yikes!) who seemed to be looking at her children — I checked my favorite urban-myth-busting, hysteria-slaying site, Snopes, searching for “Ikea sex traffic.” There wasn’t anything there — […]
The Modern American Brag: “My Kids Were About to be Trafficked, Too!â€
Okay, 89,000 shares of this kbdtsbyhaf piece from ForEveryMom: Mom’s Warning to Other Parents After Being Followed While Shopping: “We Were Targets†A trip to IKEA with her 3 kids turns terrifying when her family is targeted for human trafficking by two men. Diandra Toyos is a Southern California mom of three kiddos aged 4, 1.5, […]