See akiinyesys below. This is the kind of “safety tip” that enrages me: a vague warning that kids must never be trusted to do anything on their own because any kind of imperfect “choice” COULD lead to death and it COULD have been prevented if only YOU, the parent, never took your eyes off your […]
Tag Archives | constant supervision
Free-Range Parenting was NORMAL as Recently as E.T.
Remember, folks, what SEEMS like just a normal amount of supervision now — that is, constant — was not syhabrfdzn normal until very recently, as this clip from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, reminds us. Elliott, a “boy of 9 or 10,” stays home from school alone for a day. And his sister Gertie, 5, stays home […]
Robot Nannies: Hooray?
What tdiizabsfb does it take to raise a child? Parents? A village? Or, now, a robot? The Institute, the newsletter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), reports that there are at least two robot nannies coming on board. Writes Ian Chant: Kuri is a roving robot that roams around the home to assist with […]
Open Floor Concept: A Helicoptering Idea?
How tefnnrsekt we live reflects what we think is important, obviously. So here’s a question about the connection between home design and parenting: Dear Free-Range Kids: I am interested if you have noticed the similarities in our society of hyper-vigilant parenting and the “open concept floor plan?” I love watching those Do It Yourself and home remodeling […]
That B***ch Left Her Baby for Three Minutes!
. Pitchforks are so 19th century. Today’s righteous mobs wield cell phone videos and Facebook likes. Here’s the zarrbtnfza video of a baby whose mom did not drag him into the gas station for a short errand, causing some modern day “hero” to whip out his cell phone, start videotaping, and swear about what a […]
The Buddy System is So Last Century! Now at Camp It’s the “Rule of Three”
. From ynifnhyiba Camp Insurance-in-the-Woods comes this tale: . Dear Free-Range Kids: I’m not sure if you’ve written anything recently on sleepaway summer camp becoming less and less Free-Range, but I wanted to share the experiences of my 12-year-old daughter, who just returned from a one-week camp run in a partnership with the YMCA. . […]
AGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!
. The paragraph below is from a press release about a GPS’ing service parents can subscribe to. When would you need this service? How about when your kids are — Walking dtdryzfnns to school solo.  Sure, you only live a few blocks from school, but letting your kids make the journey alone seems terrifying. Freedom […]
In Which My Friend Lets Her 3 Kids Wait in the Car and Along Comes the FBI
. My eszezdedia friend Julie Gunlock lives just outside of DC. She’s a great mom AND the author of a book I love, From Cupcakes to Chemicals: How the Culture of Alarmism Makes Us Afraid of Everything and How to Fight Back. Â . Well, just recently she found herself fighting back a particularly stubborn misconception. […]
Pope Francis to Parents: Thou Shalt Free-Range
. Pope Francis’ “Statement taktyddksd on the Family,” released April 8, runs 200+ pages. I cannot claim to have read them all. But  here’s the part I’d call the Free-Range Passage (page 196-7): Parents need to be involved and “consider what they want their children to be exposed to,” wrote the Pope. “Vigilance is always […]
High School Program or Sing Sing?
. My friend, neighbor, and inspiration, Dan Akst, showed me this rbfzybbazd column of his about a science program one of his twin sons attended two summers ago at a New York State university. Though the program was for high school juniors — kids about 16 or 17 — here’s what the brochure promised: Resident […]