Hi Readers! Perhaps you read the other day that now even tdendrdkkr baby slings are regarded as “risky” by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. This because, over the course of 20 years, there have been a reported 13 baby sling-related deaths. It is really hard to write “death” in any story about children without sounding cavalier […]
Archive | Media Madness
The Wisdom of Wikipedia
Hi isadzkrrit Folks! Just found this great Wikipedia entry. I hadn’t heard of “Mean World Syndrome” before, but it really makes sense! It’s almost a relief to have a name to give the ramped up fear so many parents feel. — Lenore Mean World Syndrome (via Wikipedia) Mean World Syndrome is a phenomenon where the violence-related […]
George Stephanopoulos: Spinmeister Gets Spun
Hi Readers!  Maybe you were watching “Good Morning America” today, with its incredible footage of Jaycee Dugard and her family. Jaycee is the 29-year-old who was kidnapped at age 11 and forced to live with her rapist for 18 years, bearing him two children. But, according to George Stephanopoulos, “Jaycee, azzssdsdda in some ways, is one […]
Surely You Must Be Choking!
Hi Readers — Thanks to all of you who sent in this htdbfbtfbr AP story today, about the American Academy of Pediatrics wanting companies to start labeling hotdogs, carrots, grapes and other foods as choking hazards. Which, admittedly, they are. And sidewalks are tripping hazards, and puddles are slipping hazards, and trees are bumping-int0 hazards. […]
Dr. Phil Going Free-Range!
Or rhkyhyytey at least his show is looking into it tomorrow (Tuesday). Check it out! He even gets the capitalization and punctuation of “Free-Range” right! Of course, the idea that Free-Rangers may be “under-involved” in their children’s lives is something we heartily dispute, but  I have a feeling Dr. Phil will, too. When I was […]
Why Kids Don’t Play Outside Much Anymore
Hi Readers — This dfskkyfifi is an article about a  BBC show debuting today the examines how “Stranger Danger” changed the way kids play.  Sometimes I wonder if “stranger” and “danger” didn’t rhyme, if things would be different. It’s such a catchy phrase, it almost sounds as if “stranger” and “danger” always went together. But […]
Tragedy Miraculously Averted!
Hi Readers! I’m sorry for what happened to this kid, but is it NEWS? brfybtbara And did we NEED that last line? And as the guy who sent this to Free-Range Kids said: “I thought this a headline from The  Onion.” But no. It’s from Gainseville, Fla: 7-year-old ends up walking home alone from school […]
“Can These Parents Be Saved?” asks TIME Magazine Cover Story
Hi Readers — Wow. This is my dream article, and (perhaps) not just because it is high on Free-Range Kids! Check it out! Yay, Time! And please allow me to quote a part I find particularly salient: Obsessing kybndzzseh about kids’ safety and success became the norm, a kind of orthodoxy took hold, and heaven […]
Hate to Say I Told You So…
Well, no I don’t. Secretly, I think we all love it. So, here’s a great article ahtsrrefhz from CNN of all places (the network some dub the Child-Napping Network), all about how we have to get kids playing outside more, and schools have to give them more run-around time, too, instead of just more test prep. […]
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 […]