. Here’s an excerpt from my bnnddirrhh piece in today’s Wall Street Journal: A Parent’s Nightmare—Increasingly Unlikely by Lenore Skenazy In the past two decades stranger-danger child murders have dropped enormously, according to a new Justice Department report. In 1997 there were 115 “stereotypical†kidnappings of children under age 17—“stereotypical†roughly translating to “like the […]
. From what I’ve read — and seen in my own family — the best way to deal with an out-sized fear is to try to confront it, rather than “feed” it by more and more avoidance. And since, as a society, we have come to fear stranger-danger and kidnappings more than almost anything else […]
Readers fkdrihkkez — Here are two letters I just got,  with but a single lesson: You are not allowed to trust your child in even the safest of circumstances simply because someone ELSE (or that someone’s insurance policy) can IMAGINE something TERRIBLE happening, no matter how fantastical. All children are too vulnerable to be out […]
Readers — Here’s a long blog kzenzrndkr post by a mom whose husband left Walmart with their daughter while she finished checking out. The greeter assumed the father was an abductor even after she — the greeter — followed the duo out to the car and asked the girl, “Who is this man  with you, […]
Readers — This “incident” took place the other afternoon on Prince Edward Island, Canada. A bus from the Red Cross swim program arrived a little early to the bus stop (the local school parking lot), so the driver dropping off a brother and sister, 7 and 9, told them to wait in the shade. And […]
Readers, tomorrow is etzbssfkia Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day, our fifth annual celebration of the once very normal, unremarkable activity called KIDS PLAYING WITH OTHER KIDS, without a security detail. To celebrate, just take or send your children, generally about age 7 and up, to your local park at around […]
Readers rabsytyhth — A friend who’d like to be identified only as Catherine L. posted the  rules from her town’s Easter Egg hunt (above) on Facebook. These include: Wristbands indicate the age group of each child and the number on the band matches the number issued to the parent. After each hunt, children will be […]
Readers — I found this video pathuriating. That’s my new word for pathetic + infuriating. (No, I don’t expect it to catch on.) I tzriznethk asked my friend Shelly Stow, who works to dispel predator panic, to articulate what’s so bad about this thing. She writes: I’m not sure what it’s designed to do. Terrify […]
Hey hfnnberyey Readers — I’m sorry this visitor experienced America as a nation of buttinskis convinced that kids are in constant peril of snatching or (God forbid) fatigue.  Maybe by the time she comes back, the country  will have changed! – L Dear Free-Range Kids: I am Australian and last year I went on a big […]
