two wolves dalle

Which Wolf Do You Feed?

This note about “news junkies” comes from a longtime friend of Free-Range Kids, Donald Christensen. Donald is a draftsman living in Brisbane, Australia, where he thinks about the forces that change cultures and minds. This is one of his websites, as is this. I loved this note he sent. So here it is, slightly edited!! […]

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playground rules sign fairfax

Frolicking is Forbidden! Playground Sign Lists 21 Rules

“Welcome! Play Safe” reads the sign at a Fairfax County Public School playground in Virginia just outside of DC. It goes on to list 21 rules, by my count. Gee, what a normal society we live in! First of all, the sign says, the playground should never be used when it’s frozen. Or wet. There […]

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Okay for Kids, 9 & 12, To Stay Alone in Hotel Room for an Evening?

Amazing the range of opinions regarding this question on Let Grow’s Raising Independent Kids Facebook group. A mom named Michelle asks: Question about leaving kids alone at a hotel. My family lives in Texas and my husband and I were invited to his cousins wedding in Colorado, we really want to go, and we want […]

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jungle gym playground adults dalle

How To Make Kids Spend Even MORE Time on Phones?

The following note was passed along to us by a dad whose kids attend a public school in Texas. It says: Parents we need your help in keeping our children safe at the playground after hours and on the weekends. It is important that children are supervised at all times. We have had reports of […]

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eclipse 2

Canada Closing Several Schools So Kids Can Stay Inside During Eclipse

School’s out on April 8 for many kids in the U.S. and Canada. On that date, a full solar eclipse will be visible from Texas to Ontario, and “There are risks associated with viewing a solar eclipse,” several Toronto-area school boards announced. Those schools moved their May 17 kid-free professional development day to April 8 […]

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scary criminal trying again

How the Media Makes Us Scared for Our Kids

Here’s a little excerpt from the interview Katie Kimball, host of the Healthy Parenting Handbook Podcast, did with me. The full podcast is here. Katie Kimball: No matter what the parents do individually with the decisions we’re making, there is a toxic culture that could be holding us back. We talk a lot with food […]

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charles brewer headshot

Of Cars and Kids and Playing Outside

Kids running around and playing outside till the streetlights came on. That was Charles Brewer’s childhood — and dream. To make it happen in modern-day America, he developed Glenwood Park in Atlanta, a neighborhood that hewed to the tenets of “New Urbanism.” That mean it had, “town houses, offices, retail, walkable streets, a nice town […]

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