Thank God for Snopes. Without it, I’d be left rolling my eyes so far up, you’d look at me and run because, like, where are my pupils? But thanks to Snopes, the will-not-die Facebook post below is at least getting the fact-finding it deserves. For instance, that cute girl we must presume was kidnapped and never seen again? According to Snopes: Facebook commenters correctly identified the photograph’s origin on a page about children’s hairstyles. What’s more: The scenario presented is one that is exceedingly unlikely. Among other implausibilities, this warning makes it sound as though the bad guys are stymied…
Author: lskenazy
Considering fear has been the great motivator behind the marketplace push to get us to GPS our kids, put them into supervised activities, drive them everywhere, and spend every last dollar on them, lest they get hurt or fall behind in some way, it is no surprise that the pet-industrial complex has taken note. Hence, this press release I got. I guess I should have sent it yesterday because now it may be TOO LATE: Valentine’s Day is also PET THEFT AWARENESS DAY: [LS: I hope you celebrated!] Here’s how to protect your pet, and your heart, from theft Imagine…
David Finkelhor, head of the Crimes Against Children Research Center, has written a very solid, smart article about the recent murder of Nicole Lovell, the 13-year-old Virginia girl allegedly killed by two older teens she met online. While The New York Times and other media immediately published articles screeching about new apps creating a world where no child is safe, Finkelhor calmly cited studies conducted by his center that prove the opposite: “Youth homicides and abductions committed by a stranger met online are rare,” the studies showed. How rare? They “can be counted on one hand.” Rare. And actually, when it…
Years ago I went to a friend’s African-American church. The preacher told a story about the time he was running to catch the bus on Manhattan’s Central Park West — a beautiful avenue boasting our iconic park on one side, and million dollar condos on the other. As he sprinted up the street, a cop sprinted up behind him shouting. “Halt! What are you doing here?” These were the days before Ferguson, and I was unaware of how common this was. But the churchgoers weren’t. They nodded along. They smiled ruefully. They’d all been there: Presumed guilty just for being…
Recall that last week I got a note from a dad who had just dropped his wife off at college when he realized: She still had the apartment keys! So he turned the car around, went back to the school and let his kids, 2 and 4, wait in the car while he ran in. It was 47 degrees out. The kids were safe and warm and buckled in. He got the house keys and came back 10 minutes later to find two college employees standing next to his car, glaring. They told him they were reporting him to the…
. This comes to us from Wendy Cicchetti Thurmond, a mom of three, a former news anchor, and now small business owner in Westwood, MA. An Open Letter to the Lady Who Shut My 8-Year-Old Daughter Out: . I am a disappointed, bewildered, angry mother who’s daughter has been shut out of a youth sport. I never thought enrolling my 8 year old daughter on February 1st for spring lacrosse, would be considered late, but it is was. I sent an e-mail asking for my daughter to be added to the waitlist. Here’s what I got: . “I…
Heck, I was about to write about kids, free play, parents, common sense, or the shocking lack thereof. But then along came this video. I burst out laughing even as my eyes welled up with tears. Had to share. And, yes, now I want pesto. (I also want to learn to use my fork and knife better.) Divertiti! .
The latest sexting scandal comes to us from Peters (ha ha!) Middle School outside of Pittsburgh, where police are examining kids’ cell phones for nude photos. Why. Like really: Why? It sounds like a giant swath of middle school kids and teens have naked pictures of themselves and others on their phones. Investigating these as if they are crime scenes doesn’t seem to make any more sense than reading kids’ diaries as if they are signed confessions. Can we instead decide that while naked selfies are a bad idea, the police should have nothing to do with investigating or prosecuting…
. Remember last year’s collective jaw drop as Nationwide ran an ad on the Super Bowl that featured a kid dreaming about all the things he’ll never get to do — biking, sailing, having a girlfriend — because he’s DEAD? And not just dead for any ol’ reason. Dead because his parents just weren’t CAREFUL enough? Let ydhnrnetik me refresh your memory: “I’ll never learn to ride a bike. Or get cooties [from a girl’s kiss]. I’ll never learn to fly,” mourns the the elementary-age boy. We also see him in a tux in a forest. (You know the…
Here’s my piece in today’s New York Post: Imagine if the feds sent the following letter to American men: Dear Fellas: Due to issues of compromised sperm quality, we are recommending that you abstain from all alcoholic beverages from the age of 15 till 45. We trust this will not have too much impact on your lifestyle. Think of the children! Yours, The Centers for Disease Control Of course, the CDC didn’t send out a letter like that on Tuesday — to men. It did, however, issue this warning to women: “Stop drinking alcohol if [you] are trying to get…