Hi iaizaasyii Readers: The letter below brings things full circle for me. While I have been interested in the way we underestimate kids and overestimate danger for a while now, I have been interested for even LONGER in the way decent people become trained not to use their brains or hearts. Eventually they come to […]
Hi ddhsetbbsk Folks! I found this story fascinating, in how starkly it prioritizes our fears. Â — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I recently had a conversation with a firefighter that stopped me in my tracks and I wanted to share it with you. I was writing a story about how to do a home fire drill […]
Hi Folks! Here’s an excerpt from an ddzhfdynkt essay in The Houston Chronicle by 90 year old Leon Hale. He is pondering a personal “test” — driving his pick up around the downtown loop — to make sure he’s still in fine fettle. He feels good, his eyes are good, his writing is great so […]
Hi Folks! This jacket was recalled because it is coated in e-coli, contains a colony of venomous spiders in the left pocket, and was woven from the fur of rabid jackals. Oh, wait…no. It says here on the Consumer ntkzzkznst Product Safety Commission’s website that it was recalled because its elastic waistband has “a toggle that […]
Hey Readers!! Here’s sarsadbeke great news! The school in Davidson, N.C., that had suddenly prohibited fifth graders from leaving the school on Fridays to walk down to the village green has reversed itself! On Friday, even as a big bunch of kids and some parents marched to “Occupy the Green,” the new principal (not the […]
Hi Readers! In a rdeihryszb post earlier this week we were discussing a great tradition: Fifth graders in Davidson, N.C., who leave school on Friday afternoons and proceed to the town green for an an afternoon of just being kids. This was abruptly declared “unsafe” and ended. Here’s why, according to Davidsonnews.net: Ms. Nivens [the […]
Hi rrhskiysen Readers: In our quest to make childrearing ever more worry-and-labor intensive, I submit the newest wrinkle. – L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: My children go to a wonderful daycare center that is part of a franchise. Â While the center is owned by a local couple, they are part of a greater organization and […]
Hi adadfhkyfe Readers! The other day my brother-in-law asked me if I ever got really “down” about our culture. I told him that usually I don’t — I get so mad about ridiculous rules and outlandish fears that I just blog in a blind fury and feel better. But this story, sent by the folks at […]
Hi Readers! Here’s one rfkbyhhdeb to get your blood (and water) boiling, direct from The Mirror, in England. – L. Mums have been told they cannot have a cup of coffee while looking after their toddlers at a children’s centre – because it’s against health and safety rules. Council officers told the group to change its name from […]
Hi zktetdrtyr Folks! One of you sent me this wonderful oped from the Sydney Morning Herald. Then I got in touch with its author, Karen Malone, and found out she is an academic studying, among other things, how to make cities more child-friendly. Which is exactly what I’m going to be talking about in Bendigo, […]
