. Here’s a jolly little artifact that one of you photographed in a Chicago-area restaurant: . .
Tag Archives | Halloween
Track or Treat! This Halloween, Treat Your Kid Like a Felon!
. Halloween szrdehshit is the ultimate Free-Range holiday — the one day of the year kids are  encouraged to go out in the world, on their own, and make things happen. They: *Dress up like adults (or at least not like the kids they are) *Take to the streets *Interact with strangers. Repeatedly! *Work and […]
“What If You’re Not There and Your Child Gets Hurt?” A Halloween Mis-hap…and A Halloween Revolution!
Hi zeaebstnib Folks! Two stories for you. Here’s the one to remember when folks start “What If”- ing your decision to send your kids outside to play or walk to school or do pretty much anything without you. One question I always get is, “Well what if they get HURT and you’re not there?” Here’s […]
Halloween: The Day We Test-Market New Parental Fears
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, […]
Occupy Halloween! Hand Out HOMEMADE Treats This Year!
Hi Readers — It occurs to me that maybe the best way to fight Halloween paranoia is with cookies. Start with the fact that there hbhhsfitba has NEVER been a case of children poisoned by a stranger’s candy on Halloween. That’s according to University of Delaware sociologist Joel Best, who has studied the urban myth […]
Making Up Halloween Fears
Hi rkyashykhy Readers! Sometimes I think that in our uber-safe society, poor scribes are locked in a room and told they can’t come out until they dream up some new worry — no matter how far-fetched — to caution folks about. (My current fave is the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s apple bobbing cautions, below.) […]
Trick or Treat or Track Your Kid?
Hi Readers! Trick or treat or track? Those are the three Halloween options this year, according to this aaadtzryab piece in the Orlando Sentinel, thanks to an app that allows parents to track their kids as they go trick or treating (or as they go anywhere, Â any day. It’s not like the app only works […]
Passing the Popsicle Test
Hi Readers — How I love nebkzsittb this post by Scot Doyon, “Smart Growth = Smart Parenting,” on a blog called PlaceShakers, which bills itself as “people, news and views shaping community.” As you know, I think community is pretty much the answer to all our ills. The more we trust and depend on each other, […]
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 […]
How Predator Panic Spreads Around the World
Hi Readers! As you may recall, I was recently in Australia, where I was sort of surprised to hear how much their culture mirrors ours in terms of fear. The Aussies seem to be a bit less frantic — props to them — but there were still enough, “What harrezaayb about predators?” to make me […]