Readers knskbaahae — Allow me to tiptoe off topic, slightly, to print this comment that came a while back in response to “An Insane Focus on Safety, Including the Hazard of ‘Eating Bread.’” Â As you know, Free-Range is all about battling hysteria when it comes to the idea that NOTHING is safe enough for our […]
Archive | Miscellaneous
Xmas Gift? A Kit That Saves Your Child’s Scent for the Search Dogs
This festive season, remind parents that their precious kids could be abducted and killed if the rescue dogs don’t find them immediately. What better way to send happy holiday greetings than the $19.99 FindEm yznznkhiys Kit, that preserves a child’s scent for the day they are abducted? As the website declares, “A Child Goes Missing […]
“Don’t Touch My Nuts!” Yells Kid When Actor in Children’s Play Asks, “What’s Your Name?”
Readers asfhisssny – I hope that this is the story of just one over-coached kid. But…maybe not. This is a piece from SpikedOnline by the inimitable Josie Appleton who runs the Manifesto Club in Britain, which is like Free-Range Kids mixed with Reason.com. A “panto” is the age-old, slapstick, audience-participatory Christmas pantomime show (not silent!) that […]
The Pressure to Get Parenting Exactly “Right” — Starting from Pregnancy
Hi dbhnzazyht Folks! I was just reading the latest from the amazing Centre for Parenting Culture Studies in Kent, England, and found this piece by Zoe Williams, author of the new book The Madness of Modern Parenting.  (Then I ended up reading some other stuff by her, like this. So fun!) This piece ran in The […]
Ban Children from Santa’s Knee, Says Child Safety Expert
GET hyheenntit AWAY FROM ME, YOU PERVERT…and please bring me a toy firetruck.  Assume all Santas are child molesters and teach kids not to sit on their laps. That’s what a well-known “child safety expert” in Australia is suggesting. Child protection activist Hetty Johnston this week backed the concerns of Queensland parents worried the time […]
First They Came for the See-Saws, and I Said Nothing…
Then ekznbttdbh they came for the merry-go-rounds, and I said nothing. Then  — The city is putting the brakes on spinning playground equipment following reports of injuries, a Parks Department spokeswoman said. Rotating metal saucers that kids ride at two Park Slope [Brooklyn] playgrounds were recently welded into place so they can’t move, and the […]
New British Law Will Call All Sorts of Things “Child Abuse”
Readers — The so-called “Cinderella Law” working its way through Parliament may sound as if it is going to rescue ragamuffins stuck in their own little corner in their own little chair. But in fact, by expanding the definition of child cruelty to include emotional, psychological or even intangible nnzersdana harm, it holds the threat of […]
How to Protect Your Child from Predators
Lots of good ideas here (from tafdrkdayt Clickhole):
UPDATE! See the Real Bingo Card for Child Hysteria Bingo!
LOOK! dbysifneah Thank you, Marjorie Ingall, for making this into a Bingo Card! (And here’s a site that allows you to do the same. So fun!) Readers — Commenter Jenny Islander sent in this brilliant Child Hysteria Bingo board! Feel free to add more ideas: Welp, I think I’ve finally read enough of Free-Range Kids to […]
Oops! Mistaken Evidence Landed Couple in Prison for 22 Years for “Satanic Child Abuse”
Readers tbnbzbrirf — The belief that our kids are in constant danger from the worst of the worst of the WORST can (and did) lead to cases like this. As reported in Saturday’s Austin American-Statesman by Chuck Lindell — Austin day care owners Dan and Fran Keller spent more than 22 years in prison after three […]