This comment came in response to the post by Mean Girls’ author Rosalind Wiseman about whether or not to spy on a child’s online activity: There are so many monitoring apps out there, and the aim of using them is to keep loved ones safe. I don’t think it is too controlling of me or any parent to use monitoring apps (e.g. xnspy) to track a child’s GPS location history to make sure that he/she is safe. I am no authority on the subject of parental care, but I feel that it is important to let them know that we…
Author: lskenazy
Okay, readers: Please help me figure this out. Why is this idea — college students living for free in an old peoples’ home — so appealing? Is there anything Free-Range about it, other than celebrating the idea of people connecting? Or maybe it’s just a new and good solution to a couple of problems at once, and it’s always fun to encounter one of those? Or maybe it’s how I have always wanted to live, which is basically in a dorm? Or maybe it’s remembering that old and young didn’t used to be completely separate? Not quite sure, but I…
There have been a spate of, “What I Learned about Parenting by Living in Country X” articles. Most of them are pretty interesting. The French, Japanese, Scandinavians — they all do it differently from us, and usually the biggest difference is less hovering/handwringing. This piece by Mihal Greener in Salon adds one angle I hadn’t read before. In addition to being less materialistic than the “average American” and giving kids more freedom and responsibility, she writes that Dutch parents don’t see their kids as a reflection of their parenting: A lifeline for us expat moms were the coffee mornings where…
It is with dread and despair that I must tell you that a creepy clown has been spotted wandering around Green Bay, Wisconsin. And you thought the idea of “Cheese Heads” was already disturbing. (Heads made OF cheese? Encased IN cheese?): Wisconsin residents are calling police, asking about a disheveled clown walking through Green Bay with four black balloons. But, there’s not much police can do. The clown doesn’t appear armed or dangerous — just really creepy. “This person is not breaking the law,” said Captain Kevin Warych of the Green Bay Police Department. “He can walk in a clown…
What happens when polio and smallpox aren’t taking their toll anymore? Well you just have to look a little harder to find an unspeakable menace stalking our kids. As so, reports this article from Science Daily: Heat safety issues in bounce houses can put children in danger, according to a new University of Georgia study. Expanding on the concept of microclimates like those in parked vehicles that cause serious injuries to children, the study investigated potential heat-related risks associated with bounce houses, which create a microclimate environment similar to automobiles but one that had not been previously examined. The new…
Here’s a piece of mine ran on the newish site Heat Street. I wanted to share it with you too — with an update: Whenever I suggest that it should be up to the parents to decide if it makes sense to take a child out of the car while they run a brief errand, someone smugly reminds me of this or that tragic story of a child who died in a car. Almost always (I’d say always, but there may be an outlier), it is the story of a child forgotten there for hours, not simply waiting while mom…
“Parents, please go out of your minds with fear about an extremely remote danger we are exploiting to get your love and votes.” Ah, if only politicians were that plainspoken. Instead, we have a pileup of New York state senators and now the Governor himself, Andrew Cuomo, stumbling over themselves to create new legislation that will keep kids safe from…sex offenders playing Pokemon Go. Talk about bold leadership. The legislation proposed by the governor today would prevent sex offenders on parole from playing the game in which animated creatures appear on your phone screen you walk around. The legislation proposed…
. Rosalind Wiseman describes herself as “some combination of educator, parenting expert, social activist, bourbon drinker, mother of two teen boys.” But chances are you have heard of her as the author of “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” the book that was the basis for the (wonderful!) movie Mean Girls. Wiseman also wrote a boy-book companion: “Masterminds & Wingmen.” . Now a new editon of her Queen Bees book just came out last week, including chapters on social media and the broader world of tech. Here’s an excerpt: Should I Spy? by Rosalind Wiseman “Does a parent ever have the right…
ThisFox 59 WXIN ad is so classic it belongs in the Fearmongering Hall of Fame…or maybe on The Simpsons. I so wish I could find the embed code, but I can’t. (Can anyone? Please send!) In any event, here’s the transcript. Imagine dirge like music and out-of-focus pictures of kids playing (which happens to be my other bugaboo. As if showing the faces of frolicking kids automatically puts them in grave danger!): SCARY ANNOUNCER: There’s a safety concern lurking in your neighborhood playground. CONCERNED MOM: Alarms definitely went off. SCARY ANNOUNCER: And your child could fall victim when you least…
Dutifully documenting the end of human trust and common sense, I give you this: Dear Free-Range Kids: I love my Church, but I was really turned off by this new policy: “To date, we have allowed students to check themselves out of the Tweenz class rather than requiring a parent to pick them up.  However, going forward, for the safety and security of our children, we will be requiring you to pick up your child with your parent sticker that matches the unique alpha-numeric code on your child’s sticker.  Children will not be permitted to leave the Tweenz class without…