Hi terinrkkzf Readers! Here’s a note from a Free-Ranger named Cari Noga. Let’s give her some ideas! — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: I just posted this in the “ideas†section on your blog, but thought I’d send it direct, too. On your blog you ask, “Do you ever let your kid ride a bike to […]
Archive | Eek! A Male! (and Stranger Danger)
England Getting Battier
Hi Readers — Here’s the news from across the seas. Or sea, anyway. Or ocean, really. Anyway, a reader writes: If efzbyirykz you want more UK stories – a couple below: I noticed a warning in a store here (see photo) that it is now illegal to sell crackers to people under the age of […]
A Couple in their 70s Wave at A Kid…And In Swoop the Cops
Hi Readers — Acting like decent, warm-hearted human beings again? Please. Won’t you ever learn? Take a lesson from this afskdzinri story: A Canadian couple in their 70s were out running errands. Saw a boy on his bike. Waved. Later, they parked the car to run those errands. Cops arrived — a slew of  them […]
Argh!!
Hi Readers — This just in. So much for changing the world in one fell swoop. Dear afkidyhseb Free-Range Kids: I really enjoyed the article in Time, and decided to have a talk with my 6 year old daughter about independence. She was very inspired and asked if she could ride her scooter around the […]
Toddler Lost in Rough Neighborhood is Seized by A Man. Good!
Hi bshnfhandn Readers — As disturbing as this story is, I love reader Tracey Rollison’s take on it. Voila: Dear Free-Range Kids: I thought you might find this interesting: http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/Toddler-found-wandering-on-west-side . A year-old child was found wandering around Saturday night near some corner stores.  This is in a rather rough area near downtown Indianapolis.  Strangers took care of her until […]
But Wait! Fox News! Do You Really Believe —
Hi Readers — First of all, thanks for all the help on the post before this one, when I asked for ideas and zingers. I printed out your responses and they really helped. Alas, as anyone who chanced upon my 3-nanosecond appearance on Fox & Friends this morning knows, the event did not go quite […]
Thoughts on The Bus (About Men)
Hi Readers — On the bus going across town today my husband and I sat behind a girl of about 13. No one sat next to her, even though a couple of folks were standing. This reminded me of my long-ago trip to Turkey. When I was there in the 1980s, at least, men were not allowed […]
Warning! Man on Street Near School!
Hi tbrhyrtsze Readers! Here’s an interesting little note that just came in from Jennifer in Canada, the gal behind the blog highlyirritable: Good morning, Free-Range Kids! This article appeared in the local paper, The Milton Canadian Champion, and I found it and I found it both fascinating and scary. (Note: I have removed the school […]
Pedophiles, Witches & Kids
Sometimes, when I try to explain how frenzied we have become about the real but extremely rare crime of childhood abduction, I compare our era to that of 1692 Salem. There was no way — back then, back there — to convince the average person: Don’t you see you’re being swept up on a wave […]
Why I Rolled My Eyes On FoxNews Today
Now I know how Al Gore felt.  Well, at least about playing to TV. Remember how he was caught rolling his eyes during one of the Presidential debates, and that sealed his fate – for some folks, anyway – as a hopelessly smug know-it-all? I rolled my eyes on TV today, too. Wish I hadn’t, […]