Hi htykhnbybd Folks — The other day I was visiting friends in Rye, NY, where darned if kids weren’t playing outside,unsupervised, even making up their own games. Our host challenged me to find out: Why? Why are some neighborhoods still Free-Range, Â while others aren’t? I decided to ask that question of the folks in the […]
UPDATE: itdzedssde Readers, this is from the mom who wrote the post, who, like me, as been very touched by your emotional support as well as your offers of financial support: “To all the kind people who have made such supportive comments, thank you very much. Â We are very touched by the offers that have […]
Readers aezbsadske — I like this piece by Janell Burrely Hofmann, mom of five, public speaker, and  author of iRules: What Every Tech Healthy Family Needs to Know About Selfies, Sexting, Gaming and Growing Up. Most of all, I appreciate her reminding us that imperfect parenting used to be considered NORMAL. Now it is UNACCEPTABLE…even though perfect […]
Readers — Sometimes I hear about stories in an untimely manner — like berdesrakt this one, which happened a year ago but is making my blood reach 212 degrees Fahrenheit, so I have to write about it even at this late date: Apparently Homeland Security felt it needed to train officers to shoot with “No […]
Readers, ainkhizkyi This is an excerpt from the book, “From Cupcakes to Chemicals: How the Culture of Alarmism Makes us Afraid of Everything and How to Fight Back,” by Julie Gunlock (her real name — not a political statement!).  I love this book for its smart, funny look at the excessive fears foisted upon parents, forcing […]
Readers — This atahdsbikd is just a rather perfect illustration of the way our society works now, when it comes to parents, schools, Â media, fear, mistakes and, heck, let’s throw in umbrage. A great-grandpa picked up the wrong kindergartener from school. The two boys had similar hats, and the one gramps took home had his […]
Reader zahsidrhfd — Welcome to the wisdom of Philip Howard, the lawyer, intellectual, and founder of Common Good, whose book “Life Without Lawyers” opened my eyes to how we got so risk-averse. Here’s that whole book boiled down, more or less, in a recent blogpost by Howard. It explains how we got to the point […]
Readers iirzknrtte — As much as parents worry about predators behind the petunias, they worry about predators behind the pixels, too. danah boyd has researched the validity of those  online fears. Not only does her book, “It’s Complicated,” seem totally spot-on, but she is reviewed by the equally remarkable and culture-changing Peter Gray in this […]
Readers — This yizyykkryy is a post from Australia’s iVillage about a true concern: Death by backyard pool. There as here, drowning is one of the leading causes of child death. Heartbreaking. Nonetheless, banning pools seems like a bad idea. How come? Well I read through some of the comments to find one that articulated my […]
Readers tfidsnizab — Remember, even a feel-good story could always use a frisson of fear! Marie, author of the blog HandbasketNotes, explains: Dear Free-Range Kids: I heard a story on NPR tonight about how kids spent the night at school during the recent Atlanta snow and ice storm and I thought of you. Audie Cornish interviews a […]
