Readers ftyrsbztek — If you wonder why kids aren’t outside as much anymore, maybe it’s time to consider all the helpful safety tips we get.  Here are some from the New Jersey’s Star Ledger’s “46 Ways to Have a Safer NJ Summer.” (For more, see my piece at Reason.) “If you see a bear while out […]
Tag Archives | playgrounds
SATURDAY! 4th Annual “Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day”
Yes folks, Saturday May 18 is international Take iezhbbsekr Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day, the Free-Range holiday that’s celebrated just the way it sounds: We all take our kids to our local park and, if they’re 7 or 8 or older, leave them there for a bit, starting at 10 a.m. That […]
Play on a Third World Playground — Check!
 Hi adbdnzydrt folks! Our Sunday reading comes to us from far away — Hyderabad, India. It’s by Stephanie Smith Diamond who writes, runs, and studies for her master’s degree in political science there. She blogs at Where in the World Am I?  – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I recently came across your blog and read your book. […]
Mind-boggling SENSE About Play, Injuries & Rules
Readers, once in a while – if you ignore the school safety drills involving real helicopters and the school boy suspensions involving imaginary guns – you can feel like things are going in exactly the right direction. This is one of those moments. Look at this article, “Call dnyrahfdhh to Ditch Red Tape on Playtime […]
Dangerous Playground Structure Suddenly Not Dangerous
Hey Readers — You may recall this drdsskzrst post from two weeks ago about playground equipment purchased by a Fairfax, VA, PTA from a reputable manufacturer that was installed at a local grammar school over the summer and then suddenly declared “unsafe.” Since Nov. 30 it had been wrapped up in tape of every sort […]
School’s Playground Equipment Declared Too Dangerous Even Though it is Ridiculously Safe
Readers — If you want to watch the decline and fall of Western Civilization, check out this bsnadtnsft article in yesterday’s Washington Post about a suburban D.C. school, Stratford Landing, Â whose PTA purchased a rather cool-looking piece of climbing equipment. They bought it, Â using bake sale and other fundraising money, Â from a playground company that […]
Playgrounds Getting TOO Safe?
Hi Readers — A bunch of you sent me links to this wonderful rbanzdabeb NY Times story by John Tierney yesterday, about how maybe we have been making playgrounds SO safe that they actually stunt our kids’ development. (Or at least make it too boring for anyone over 7 to want to go play.) It’s a […]
Outrage of the Week: “We LOVE Seeing Children Outside (But Not Under Age 16)”
Hi Readers — It’s summer! Time for kids to run around and ride their bikes and play like puppies till the moon shoos them home. Unless, that is, they’re living in the Eagle Place Townhomes in Lafayette, Colorado. There, no children are allowed to play outside, unsupervised, until age 16. That’s right. No kids. Outside. […]
Hey Kids! Get Away From That Playground!!
The tazkzehadk headline on this USA Today story sums it up: Playgrounds: They’re safer but still can be dangerous. As opposed to — what? Anything can be dangerous. Nothing can be 100% safe. Yesterday a man walking through Central Park got hit by a falling branch and now he’s in a coma. Should we cordon off […]