Hi sssyrtfbsf Folks! Here’s a question about bathroom break protocol at a Sunday School. Weigh in! — L Dear Free-Range Kids: What got me interested in this movement is a conversation I had at church just over a week ago. I’m my church’s Health and Safety Officer, but we also have a Child Protection Officer […]
Tag Archives | crime
Advice for Worriers
Hi Readers! Jeffrey Goldberg penned this pretty darn perfect bit of advice in a column called, “What’s nnnszzasni Your Problem?” in the current issue of The Atlantic. Here’s the question: Ever since our first child was born, I have slept very poorly. When I close my eyes, my mind becomes crowded with worries. I worry […]
Halloween Follow-Up — by YOU
Hi Readers! I’ve been behind in my emails and just found this cool idea. Comes from a gal named Catherine. Let’s do it! Dear dbrrzsnank Free-Range Kids:Â How about a post-Halloween column where you challenge your readers to scan their local news and post ANY violent incidents that happened at Halloween? I just scanned my local […]
Amazing Halloween Horror Story!
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 […]
How Do You Tell A Total Helicopter to Back Off?
Okay, dszykztnyi Readers. Let’s help this mom out! Dear Free-Range Kids:  Finding this blog several years ago validated my desire to back off and let my kids be kids. At that time, I was mostly associating with “helicopter parents” and feeling inadequate for not wanting to micromanage my children’s every waking moment. And yet, one helicopter […]
A Nice Note from An Aussie (About Serial Killers)
Hey bkiiizhnhe Readers — This was an extremely nice reaction to my talk at the Sydney Opera House yesterday, so how could I resist posting it? Tomorrow I’ll be at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne (free!). Â And after that…back to America! Dear Lenore: I loved what you had to say about how news was once […]
Advice Needed: What to Do About Drugs at the Playground?
Hi rnnirsnbhf Readers — Just got this letter today and what’s cool is that the writer, Aaron, is asking for your input, not just mine. That’s good because I don’t have a lot of advice for this fellow, except, “Alert the police.” So — let’s see what other great ideas are out there! — L. […]
“What Fantasy World Does Lenore Live In?” (And An Answer)
Hi Readers! As you know, one of the reasons many folks are too scared to let their kids go outside and play, or walk to school, or breathe without a bodyguard, is that they assume “times are different” — and worse. Here’s what a lady wrote to her local California paper yesterday: What ksdzrakkeb fantasy […]
Like Watching a Witch Burning: See The Woman Sentenced to Life for Having 13 y.o. Touch Her Breast
Hi Readers — I found the video below so upsetting, I hadn’t even been able to figure out what to say and when to post it. It’s the actual, courtroom sentencing of  a 34-year-old woman, Michelle, who was found guilty of making a 13-year-old boy touch her breast and also trying to kiss him and […]
“Take Our Kids to the Park & Leave Them There Day” Lunatic Idea? Invitation to Predators?
Hi Readers — Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but when a blog called The ktydftyyrd Neighborhood Crime Map did what seemed like a very even-handed little post about May 22’s “Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day,” the reaction was swift and hysterical: “Is there not a culture of drug use, meanness, […]