Hi fiybryeies Readers — I got this note the other day and found it very intriguing. You may, too. It’s about two issues that affect how we think about kids and freedom ! Dear Free-Range Kids: These thoughts have been swirling around my mind. 1. Have you noticed that “anything can happen” is the new […]
Tag Archives | kidnap
Hey Kids! What To Do If You Are Trapped in A Trunk by Your Local Madman!
February 9, 2010
Hi Readers: As a Free-Range parent I believe in preparing kids to be independent and safe. Just as we teach them to “Stop, drop and roll!” in the unlikely event they’re ever on fire, it makes sense to teach them to yell, kick and run in the equally unlikely event some creep tries to grab […]
Watching TV and Feeling Terrified
October 24, 2009
Hi hiekhabssz Readers! Here’s a note I got from a reader and a note SHE got from her mom. The latter may sound very similar to the one in your own inbox. Dear Free-Range Kids: I received the email below from my mother.  She is a professional worry-wart. I’m not sure her statistics are correct, […]
A Repulsive Ad About “Child Safety”
October 15, 2009
This yknikrnreb ad isn’t new, but I just have to say: It is repulsive. Repulsive in that it reinforces the belief that if you do so much as to turn around for a sec to get something out of the stroller, your child could be abducted. Repulsive in that, in order to sell batteries, Duracell is […]
Help, Daddy! A Grandma Smiled At Me! Will She Kidnap Me?
June 23, 2009
Hi iheikaikbh Free-Rangers! Just though I’d share this little note I got from Australia this morning. Makes you realize it’s a small world after all: A small, paranoid, danger-halucinating world. This is from a lady named Vivienne: Walking in Ikea.  I am a pleasant-enough, smiley grandmoter of 9. A man with his daughter of about 3 […]
Learning The Wrong Lessons from Sandra Cantu’s Death
April 11, 2009
It’s front page news out here in San Francisco where I’m visiting, but it’s probably front page news out by you, too: The tragic story of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, who was abducted and murdered last week in California. Today’s front page story is as inevitable as the media attention: “Case Forces Parents to take Tougher […]