A bunch of you sent me this CNN piece about the hidden dangers (every TV producer’s favorite kind!) of hand sanitizer. While the video is about teens deliberately drinking the stuff, the written story is about Purell-pickled nippers, and that’s what I’d like to discuss today. It starts with a story that’s almost too strange to be scary: ATLANTA — Nhaijah Russell’s parents had no idea what was wrong with their daughter when she was rushed to an emergency room from school. The 6-year-old was slurring her words and was unable to walk. Doctors soon learned that Russell had swallowed…
Author: lskenazy
. From a parent whose kids go to public school in an affluent area in Alabama: Dear Free-Range Kids: Today I had to surrender my license for the privilege of going into my kid’s school to help on a band project on this day. Because we all know that a bad guy with a gun will always stop at the front desk and hand over his ID before shooting up the school. We seem to have adopted a national fear of everything, driven by the media, the government, and the security/fear industrial complex. Here’s what our school system now has…
Safety hysteria is everywhere, but nowhere more obvious than in “must read” warnings to parents, like the ones discussed below. A mom named Alisha emailed to say, “As a former paramedic I’m all for safety, but I am frustrated on a daily basis with other people’s perception of what is dangerous.” Me too. That’s why I love her letter. By the way, the clothing hampers that the article talks about are made of fabric and wire. Dear Free-Range Kids: So in this month’s Parents magazine there is an article titled “10 Hidden Hazards In Your House.” In big red bold…
This fantastic editorial says what we have been saying: Enough with the post-incarceration demonizing of all those convicted of sex crimes, as if merely being within 2500 feet of “one of them” means our kids are likely to be kidnapped and raped. As they stand now, the laws regarding where a “sex offender” can live are as cruel as they are worthless. Banning folks who’ve served their time from living anywhere near a park or school assumes that they are driven to pounce on random victims. But we know that the vast majority of crimes against kids, including rape, are…
. Here’s one of the occasional letters I get from divorced parents who see their child’s safety differently: Dear Free-Range Kids: I hope you can help me or provide me with some recommendations. I have a court date on October 6th in which it will be discussed whether I can let my 9-year-old daughter (4th grade) ride her bike to and from school alone. . I am a divorced father. I share 50/50 custody with my ex wife. When my daughter is at my house, I allow her to ride her bike to school alone (distance= 0.9miles, time: 4-6 mins…
. A note asked me to take a look at this story, about a boy, 10, who walked out of his school and no one noticed he was gone. . Which is, admittedly, egregious….but not necessarily dangerous. We’re talking a 10 year old, not a toddler. And as the note correctly remarked: Of course, I know you share my frustration with the tone of this article. It belabors the idea of all the horrible things that could have happened to this 10 year old. . And to be fair, the mother has every right to be angry with the school,…
Best story of the week? Month? Year? And I’m just talking about the parents! Get a load of this: Two five-year-old Russian boys used spades to dig their way out of their kindergarten and set off on a mission to buy a Jaguar sports car, Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported Tuesday. The two boys disappeared as their group took part in a supervised walk in the grounds of the kindergarten in the city of Magnitogorsk in the Urals region, the tabloid reported. Chelyabinsk regional interior ministry confirmed the boys’ escape from kindergarten to AFP. “We don’t have any details yet, we…
This should tell you something about how meaningless and capricious the “Sex Offender” label is: Zach Anderson, the Elkhart, Indiana 19-year-old labeled a sex offender for having consensual sex with a girl who said she was 17 (but turned out to be 14), has had his sentence “vacated.” That means it’s as if his case had never been sentenced. It will be heard anew by a different judge. The judge who originally sentenced him to a quarter century of pariah-dom, including no internet, no talking to minors, no living near a school, no smart phone, and no staying out past…
Following up on our discussion of the security theater at Chuck E. Cheese (and what DOES that “E” stand for?), here’s a little rant about the TSA. I post it mostly because it links to such a truly fun video (below). I laughed out loud. But the TSA’s “You May Be a Terrorist If…” list of behaviors actually reminds me of “You may be a predator if…” — the way that schools send out bulletins alerting parents that, “A man was seen near the bus stop,” or, “A van slowed down by some children today.” We see the same overkill…
How this poor girl will ever recover from the trauma she endured, I just don’t know. Australia’s New South Wales police are alerting the public to a: Child approach – Mount Annan near Camden Friday, 04 September 2015 10:56:36 AM Police are appealing for witnesses after a girl was approached by a man at Mount Annan near Camden yesterday. About 2:55pm yesterday (Thursday 3 September 2015) a 12-year-old girl was walking east along Main Street towards the intersection of Watermouth Drive on her way home from school. As she walked further towards the intersection, a man allegedly approached the girl…