Hey Readers! Once in a while, common sense actually wins a biggie. That’s what’s  happening right now in Texas, where the governor seems set to sign a “Romeo & Juliet” bill that would prevent teens and young adults who have consensual sex from ending up as official “Sex Offenders,” required to register for life. Yes, […]
Archive | Sex Offender Issues
How to Make Parents Feel Angry & Distrusted
April 11, 2011
Hi folks! Just a reader’s follow-up note to the post below this one on mandatory fingerprinting for Little League volunteers: Dear fybhzashyz Free-Range Kids: The school district where we live is requiring that all parent volunteers be fingerprinted starting next year. If you want to help in the classroom at all (which the teachers heavily […]
Indictment: The McMartin Trial
January 24, 2011
Hi Readers! Thanks to one of you recommending this film — rbntrizrii “Indictment: The McMartin Trial” — my husband and I just watched it today (a mere decade and a half after it came out, on HBO). Now all I can say is: Put it at the top of your Netflix cue. As Wikipedia puts […]
Moral of Story: When 8-year-olds Are Silly, The School Goes Nuts
December 16, 2010
Hi eeyneyfyee Readers — Here’s a cautionary tale for parents whose kids sometimes do dumb things. But that can’t be many of us, right? Dear Free-Range Kids: We are devout Free-Range parents and our 8-year-old son walks to and from school nearly every day alone.  We gave him a pre-paid cell phone so he can check […]
It’s Pornographer Barbie!
December 6, 2010
Hi Readers — Thanks to all of you who sent in the wackiest “What If?” worry of the weekend: News reports that the new Video Barbie — a Barbie with a built-in video camera — “could” be used by child pornographers.  The key word for us rffktikfek is “could.” The key words for the media? “Barbie,” […]
Of Porn, Principals and Yearbooks
December 1, 2010
Hi Readers! Allow me to direct you to my renbthzbid piece on ParentDish today (gotta spread the word beyond these pixels!): “Yearbook Blacks Out Kids’ Eyes for Fear of Porn Potential.” And that’s really what it’s about: A principal in England ordered the students’ photos disfigured in the yearbook so that no one could cut […]
Perverted Kindergarteners?
November 21, 2010
Hi tssyrrnaen Readers — Got this note and had to vent. I am SO SICK of everyone thinking of everything in terms of perversion. It is a perverted way to think!! Here goes. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: This isn’t strictly a Free-Range issue perhaps, but it illustrates the nonsensical trend of treating inappropriate but […]
Amazing Halloween Horror Story!
October 31, 2010
Hi Readers — Read it and creep: Â This kfzeyatits fantastic article from The American Spectator is about how Manchester, New Hampshire, imposed a law, on the books for decades, making Halloween officially the Sunday afternoon BEFORE Oct. 31. The law was, of course, in reaction to all the usual Halloween fears — razors, poison, torture […]
Ghosts, Goblins & Predators
October 27, 2010
Hi dbehkeedfs Readers! I read this piece and it blew me away. It’s by David Hess, a minister outside of Rochester, New York. Kudos to him — and a thanks, too, for letting me reprint the whole thing! THE NEW URBAN MYTH: THE DANGER OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS AT HALLOWEEN by David Hess It’s almost […]
Recent Tweets, Cool Links
August 12, 2010
Hi Readers — Thanks to YOU I get a ton of cool links and stories every day. Since I can’t get around to blogging about all of them (and sometimes don’t even know what to say, beyond, “Wow!” and “Yikes!” and “Gah!”), I tweet them out. And since I know not everyone’s on Twitter, I’m […]