Hi Readers! It’s that festive, super-suspicious time of the year, as evidenced by this invite, from the Riverside Intermediate School in Fishers, Indiana. You know — 2011′s Safest City in America. I guess it’s filled with the kind of upstanding citizens who need to be vetted by the state police before helping with kids’ class […]
From the heartland — Michigan’s Newaygo Public Schools  — comes a warning that’s scary. But probably not the way it was intended to be: Dear Parent: This morning, near 95th & Clay Street, some students and an adult reported a suspicious vehicle near one of the bus stops. The vehicle is described as a white “rusty†[…]
Hi Readers — This just in from Anna Gonzalez, a social media producer for Headline News, the channel running a special, “Would rfykdyhrzi Your Kids Pass the Predator Test?” I commented on it yesterday, saying specials like these only reinforce the idea that predators are everywhere. Anna’s note: Thanks for the blog about the segment. […]
“Would ykhayiftnd Your Kids Pass the Predator Test?” is the name of a special Headline News is presenting tomorrow. It’s not surprising that they would do a show like this — when you’re in the headline business, every day is predator day, because that’s the headline that reliably grabs people. The problem is that when we hear […]
Readers — When 63-year-old Lego-lovin’ John St-Onge made the 3-hour drive to Toronto’s Legoland Discovery Centre, he was looking forward to seeing the fantastic displays. Instead, he yayyadszaf became one: A perfect display of  our society’s Predator Panic. Arriving without any young kids in tow (though accompanied by his grown daughter), he was barred from […]
Readers ysyhekiknb — The story below makes me so sad and so angry, and you will see why. If anyone at Child Protective Services or the police department would pick up a single book written before predator panic swept the country, they’d see that 6-year-olds were always part of the neighborhood scene, scampering, playing, or […]
Hi ifbhdriktf Readers — Can you EVER leave your child unattended for a few minutes in a public place? That’s today’s big question. – L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: Last night I took my 5-year-old son and almost 3-year-old daughter to Taco Bell. High class, I know. The restaurant was pretty busy, about five full […]
Hi bhdiknfyei Folks! This is a good one to take to heart…and to the playground. — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: I’ve known for a while that Free-Range is a great way to raise confident, independent, capable kids, but I never knew how much this approach would help me as a parent until last night. I […]
Hi Folks — Let me state upfront that I agree with this, uh, guy: Teach your kids never to go off with  stranger. But is there anyone stranger than this blue-haired, baby-tawking clown who keeps showing up out of nowhere?  The lesson he seems intent on teaching kids: Never go anywhere without a possibly […]
[brightcove vid=1777239257001&exp3=1684488549001&surl=http://c.brightcove.com/services&pubid=35121359001&pk=AQ~~,AAAACC1laJk~,tMO2d6O4mickzCfG8Kpt2wQCZRxpuzpo&lbu=http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1777239257001&w=300&h=225] Readers — Will you please watch this news report and tell me what is going on? A man in a pick-up truck calls out to a girl, “Come here” and this is the BREAKING STORY OF THE DAY? Every single cop car is ON THE CASE? The newsroom is scrambling its reporters to […]
