Hi Folks! Talk about a beacon of hope. Â A Hollywood ending! Success! Get this: As you may recall, a few years back, a mom from small-town Mississippi wrote nkkeitkzsh to this blog in a quandry. After teaching her 10-year-old son the route to soccer, she’d let him walk there — less than a mile — […]
Hi Readers: I was just very impressed by this boy’s sense of sorrow, connectedness and respect. While I don’t recommend kids defying their parents’ rules, sometimes, as they say, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Anyway, here’s kbbssbiktf what I’m talking about, from the MSNBC website: Jared Flanders faced a dilemma Wednesday evening: […]
Hi kfsdrifked Folks — If you ever wonder why parents seem so terrified these days, here’s why: We live in a society filled with more paranoia than a convention of Moon Landing conspiracists. Below is a prime example of us being told by a trusted “authority” to always conjure up the least likely but most […]
Hi ntdbttraif Readers! Here’s my Wall Street Journal column from last year, slightly edited, about today’s holiday. Boo! — L STRANGER-DANGER AND THE DECLINE OF HALLOWEEN, by Me! Halloween is the day when America market-tests parental paranoia. If a new fear flies on Halloween, it’s probably going to catch on the rest of the year, […]
Readers — Here’s the kkdezdtzib wildest “safety” story of the day: A middle school kid has been told he can’t take his sax on the school bus, because it is a safety hazard. Apparently the bus is already crowded, but somehow the sax makes it TOO crowded to ride safely, even though it fits under […]
Hi khbyibeits Readers — This is from an article by Tim Gill in The Guardian last week. Tim is a friend, an activist, a blogger and author of No Fear, a book examining what it means to grow up in a completely risk averse society. In the article I’m quoting from, he’s talking about how there’s […]
Hi ahrfysyanr Readers! This is from the blog, “Free-Range Kids in Film,” by Michael Alves. How I remember this commercial! — L. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlNAYCcxgUw&feature=youtube_gdata_player] “Anthony†Prince Pasta commercial. Not sure when this was filmed, but it seems like it is the late 60s or early 70s. It shows a school-age boy, Anthony, running home through the streets […]
Hi firkfbbrah Readers! Just got this note from “Emily in Ohio.” Loved it! And her! — L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: Last week, at 4pm, I received an automated call from the police station about an 11-year-old that was missing.  When did the boy go missing you ask?  That day at 2 pm.  That’s right, he was […]
Hi dbkkzrkikr Readers! First of all, thank you SO MUCH for the fantastic suggestions on how to help parents get over the fear of BLAME, in the post below this one. Â Here’s one response that I wanted to highlight because I hear you: We need success stories here, too. Enjoy this one! L. Dear Free-Range […]
Hi Folks — Now that the notion, “How could anyone let their kids walk alone outside?” is back in heavy rotation,  here teshfdzkta is the blog post of a mom whose 12 year old son was brought home to her by the cops. He wasn’t  in any trouble. He was simply scooped up because the […]
