Can’t tell you how fantastic it is to have Cory Doctorow — Boing Boing co-editor, author of “Little Brother,” and general genius all around — recognize the new Free-Range Kids’ legislation and the role of this blog in bringing attention to the problem it tries to address. That is: parents getting harassed/investigated/arrested for allowing their kids some unsupervised time outside. Doctorow writes: After years of documenting instances in which parents and kids are terrorized by law enforcement and child welfare authorities because the kids were allowed to be on their own in public places, the Free Range Kids movement has…
Author: lskenazy
. How does something become so normal no one even questions it? Something like shampooing daily, or eating whole wheat bread, or paying $3 (!!!) for a coffee? The process is gradual. Some people start doing it, then others join the crowd — or are prodded to join — and eventually what was once unusual becomes the norm. And many of those norms are great! Viva flossing! But some norms aren’t. Some are excessive, onerous, expensive or ridiculous activities that get woven into everyday life without our noticing. That’s what is happening with taking our kids out of the car,…
My friend, neighbor, and inspiration, Dan Akst, showed me this column of his about a science program one of his twin sons attended two summers ago at a New York State university. Though the program was for high school juniors — kids about 16 or 17 — here’s what the brochure promised: Resident assistants “will escort the students to both breakfast and dinner each day. . . . Students are restricted from being on any floor or wing other than the one assigned without an accompanying Summer Conference Resident Assistant. . . . Students will not be discharged to parents…
Reading this Today.com piece about four Texas schools that upped the number of recesses for their kids — with fantastic results — made my stomach clench. I thought back to my sons’ grammar school, which had only 20 minutes a day of recess, and took even that away when the kids were “acting out.” In other words — when the kids needed it the most. So here’s to the schools in Fort Worth, TX, for heeding the clarion call of Liink, an incredible group dedicated to promoting 4 recesses a day — two 15 minute breaks in the morning and…
. This ad is pretty darn off topic, except that I could note that if this boy lived in more Free-Range times, he’d have already had a bunch of kids to play ball with. It’s a few years old, so let’s call it a classic: . . .
Remember: Any law drawn up in haste on the heels of a tragedy, and/or following a breathless news report, and/or named for a child, and/or with the word “Angel” in its title will be a BAD LAW. It will not be based on any kind of study or rational examination of a problem — or even based on a real problem at all. It will be based on emotion, fury, sadness and a heaping helping of political puffery. In the case we are looking at today, the trigger was the news report on Wednesday of a Rhode Island mom who…
In my lectures I often point out that it is NOT our imagination — our expectations and fears for our kids have changed dramatically in a relatively short time. To prove it, I note that at the beginning of the “Sesame Street, Old School” DVD, which features highlights from the first five years of that show, a warning appears on screen: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” As if today’s preschool child is nowhere near as independent, smart or competent as the ones of yesteryear. Today, I’m…
As we ease our way into 2016, let’s consider it The Year of the Can-Do Kid, reminding ourselves that children are capable of much more than society assumes. It’s not a bad impulse that makes us want to help our kids. No one wants to see kids hurt or harmed. But our societal obsession with young people’s fragility and the permanence of trauma leaps to the disheartening belief that ANY hurt or harm is damaging, forever. So we think that somehow THIS generation of kids is maybe smarter when it comes to tech, but otherwise slower, weaker, less resilient, and…
This comes to us from Heather Hypes, a mom in Michigan, who had one of those days. We’ve all had them. The kids are tired, the line takes forever, the credit card is doing something funky… For most of modern history, this was cause for a beer or candy bar when we got home. But Heather and her husband are facing something far bigger: A possible six months in jail and $2000 in fines — not to mention lawyers’ fees — thanks to authorities convinced that children are in mortal peril any time their parents aren’t perfect. No one is…
. Mom’s too busy to go outside with you, kid? Then clearly the only option is a $159.95 indoor play system. Because you couldn’t possibly go outside UNSUPERVISED and play with FRIENDS, or even even ENTERTAIN YOURSELF, right? Mom must be right there! Always! And so we present: . . As ykytbhhhta commenter Judy C. wrote in an email, alerting us to this gizmo (which DOES look fun — it’s just the idea that kids can’t go outside unsupervised that irks me): Dear Free-Range Kids: Happy New Year! As we start 2016 and make resolutions to be more active, I…