I couldn’t resist this ad for Procter & Gamble. And I KNOW it seems to show moms constantly picking the kids up instead of kids out there on their own, but its meta-message (besides buy Pampers and Tide) is, “For teaching us that falling only makes us stronger, thank you, Mom.” Let’s remember THAT part! […]
Archive | 2014
Help Needed: Add to This Funny (but Sad) Poster
Readers — Donald Christensen, a longtime Free-Range supporter, deep thinker about encouragement, and author of the blog Tryathlete.org, came up with a great idea: Let’s make a then-vs.-now poster with all the modern-day things we say to kids to keep them “safe”… that really just depress, demoralize or defeat them. Woo hoo! Now, I realize this […]
Breakfast of Algorithms
Hi Folks! Here’s my piece in today’s Wall Street Journal. It’s not straight-on Free-Range, just a little slice of life. I hope this link works! (If not, maybe this one?) Anyway, the piece begins: A Hearty Breakfast of Google and YouTube by Lenore Skenazy This is a tale of two breakfasts. Breakfast when I was […]
George Orwell and The Elf on the Shelf
Hi Readers — I was only vaguely aware of the shelf elf, so I’m grateful to reader Frankie Wood, who just sent this in: Dear Free-Range Kids: I know, Christmas is past now, but the topic of the Elf on a Shelf came up in a recent conversation and since I don’t have my own […]
Hitchhiking Did Not Die a Natural Death
Readers — One of you sent me this fascinating piece on hitchhiking that ran in the New York Times last year. The writer, Ginger Strand, author of  Killer On the Road, points out that hitchhiking had been a normal mode of transportation, never considered particularly dangerous, until the late ’50s when: The F.B.I. began warning […]
Whose Idea Was it That Children are Fragile and Stupid?
Readers — Over and over I keep realizing how grateful kids are when we lean OUT of their lives a little and let them show us how competent they really are. I love this letter! – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I stumbled on your site when a backpacking guide friend asked me what approach she […]
KARAOKE CONTEST! Strangers in the Schools: A Song for Glen Ridge NJ on Election Day
Readers — Show us your chops! Here’s a song I wrote last night, inspired by this AP story by Nedra Pickler about some schools, including  those in Glen Ridge, NJ, that “want to end their traditional role as polling places because of security concerns since the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.” (As […]
Help Needed: Mom Who Let Kids Wait in Car Needs Lawyer and Is Distraught
Readers — This is a two-part post. First comes a letter from Lisa, a mom in Arizona who had her kids (2 and 4) wait in the car while she ran an errand and is now facing charges of neglect. The temperature that morning was mild, not sweltering. The second part is a letter to […]
School Shootings in Perspective — From Colorado
Readers — I appreciate this note and clip, from Scott FitzGerald, who describes himself as “just a ‘regular’ dad in suburbia, trying to raise two great kids to be smart, independent accountable, and happy.” (He modestly doesn’t mention having written The Great Gatsby!)  – L Dear Free-Range Kids: I thought you might find this editorial refreshing. Arapahoe High is […]
Wisconsin Paper Ends Birth Announcements — Infant Abduction Danger Too Great
Readers — Wrap your head in a towel before you read this, so when you bang your head against  the wall it won’t hurt as much: State Journal birth notices to end because of hospitals’ new policy by David Wahlberg The [Wisconsin] State Journal will stop publishing birth announcements later this week because Madison’s two […]