Hi dsydshffhs Readers! Here’s a guest post from Laura Vanderkam, a journalist who blogs at my168hours.com, writes for The Wall Street Journal (among other fancy places), and just came out with the intriguing book: “168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think.” Here she ponders: Are Parents Spending Enough Time with Their Kids These […]
Archive | Helicopter Effect on Kids
Why “Worst-Case Thinking” Gets It Wrong
Dear Readers — Oh my god, this yzbrzraaeh is a BRILLIANT essay by security expert Bruce Schneier. He’s a guy who thinks a lot about terrorism, but his words will make sense to all of us who are concerned with the difference between real danger (which we’d like to guard against) and “worst-case thinking,” which […]
Would You Hire An Employee with a Helicopter Parent?
Hi Readers! Wow. I’d heard anecdotes about this… guess it’s really true: Some parents are hovering, managing, massaging the careers of their post-college kids. (And some companies think that’s just fine? Even weirder!) Read all about it in forbes.com.
What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?
Hi Readers — The Wall Street Journal was wondering that very question. Especially since Finnish school doesn’t start till age 7 (no pre-k! no k!) and there isn’t a lot of homework. The resulting zthhaehntt article, by Ellen Gamerman, is pretty fascinating — and envy-provoking — but here’s the nicest Free-Range paragraph: Once school starts, […]
Help! How Can Mom Explain She is Raising Independent (Not Neglected) Kids?
Hi snaytsahnf Readers! This mom needs some great ideas in how to deal with friends, neighbors — and PASTOR — who equate “Free-Range” with NEGLECT. Let’s give her some strategies! — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: My nine-year-old, eight-year-old and five-year-old have been walking to school alone for a couple of months now. The walk is […]
Outrage of the Week, Cont’d: Kids in Developing Country Doing Better Science!
Hi Folks — Here’s an update zynzdfhezz from Bree, the Boulder, Colo., mom who sent in her daughter’s No-Science at the Science Fair rules (see post below). Turns out Bree’s parents are living in Myanmar (formerly Burma, as in Shave, as in something you do with a sharp object that children should never get anywhere near) […]
Dear Mrs. Obama: We Can’t Fight Obesity Without Going Free-Range
Hi Readers: Here’s an almost perfect opinion ntredykari piece by Dan Haley in Sunday’s Denver Post about how Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” program is a great idea — get kids outside, exercising more — but it’ll never work. At least, not until we start a Free-Range Revolution (not that he calls it that): …first we need […]
Outrage of the Week: Science Fair Bans Most Science
Hi Folks! Here’s zbiiirstez the latest — a brilliant Chinese plot to crush America’s lead in science and technology! Oh wait. Seems it is just one Colorado school’s list of  science fair rules. Thanks, reader Bree, for sending it in. The list: For safety: Project displays and posters may NOT contain any of the following: NO: Organisms […]
This Kid Sounds Like Me! Or, Rather, Like Us!
Hi Readers! Love this note from a middle-schooler! Dear hkrfsifdfh Free-Range Kids:Â I am a 13-year-old and I really think that kids need more freedom. I regularly ride my bike to the library and friends’ houses, but for going longer distances and using public transportation my parents would like me to have a friend with me. […]
“Dangerism” — How A Society Decides What’s Dangerous
Hi Readers! Many of you are already familiar with Gever Tulley, the guy who runs the Tinkering School and did the famous TED speech on the “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.” (Recently expanded into a book, “Fifty Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do.”) Now he’s come up with a […]