There are probably many “greatest” teachers out there — my sons have certainly had their share — but this guy, Rafe Esquith, sounds right up there. Like REALLY up there. Teachers from around the country flock to watch him in the classroom. He has written four books on teaching. Students and their parents love him, writes Jay Matthews in the Washington Post. Esquith earned the National Teacher of the Year award, the president’s National Medal of the Arts, was been made a member of the British Empire, got other awards from Oprah, The Dalai Lama, Disney…okay, you get it. On…
Author: lskenazy
Here’s another horrifying case from the Family Defense Center in Chicago. A baby’s fractured leg convinced the Department of Child and Family Services that she has been abused, despite the fact that fractures like hers are common in kids, and there was absolutely no other evidence against the parents. The state fought tooth and nail to keep the kids. I’m not sure what would’ve happened if the family hadn’t gotten expert legal help. (You can donate to the Center here.) — L. Family’s 15-Week Nightmare, After DCFS Jumps to Unsupportable Abuse Conclusions, Leads to State Backing Down From Trial Against…
From Danielle Meitiv’s Facebook page comes glorious news! MORE GOOD NEWS on the free-range front: We received the notice about CPS’ findings in the second, horrible incident when the kids were picked up on April 12th. They “ruled out” neglect, which means BOTH cases have been decided in our favor and are now closed. There is more to do to make sure this doesn’t happen to other families, but at least for now we can breathe a little easier. I’m hoping we can now ALL breathe a little easier. It is going to be harder for any CPS officials to…
It’s so strange to me that society doesn’t connect the dots. Especially dots as obvious as these: Dear Free-Range Kids: I live in Rockhampton Queensland Australia. Our town is one of the states most obese. Rockhampton has been identified as one of the cities that our states health system recently targeted to pilot a healthy eating, healthy movement program fro children (and parents) under 5. I was one of the facilitators for this program and was gob-smacked to see this sign. — Katrina .
Below is just one of several letters I’ve gotten recently from parents frustrated or furious about having to get background checked before they can do something as simple as coach T-ball, or chaperon kids on a field trip. The idea is that somehow, in the time a parent is shepherding a gaggle of goofy kids around the prehistoric mammal diorama, he or she could easily molest them or groom them for later depravity. Particularly galling is the fact — FACT! — that in Pennsylvania, where this particular parent is writing from and Jerry Sandusky’s legacy looms large, Jerry himself would…
This is how insurance companies think, blame and change our culture. The paragraph below appears at the top of the “Effective Playground Supervision” page on the site of West Bend Mutual Insurance. West Bend insures the “businesses that many standard-lines companies shy away from” including, “daycares, fitness centers, swim clubs, summer camps and non-profit organizations.” Just today I got a note from a middle school teacher who let her kids do their math sheets outside and one of the kids stepped onto the sidewalk, hurt her ankle, and the parents sued. The school had to settle out of court,…
Wait…isn’t there a family in Florida who had their kids taken away because the 11 year old was unsupervised for 90 minutes? Maybe the authorities can watch this video and remember that kids who are 11 are not babies. In fact, they can SAVE them. Even in Florida! .
This was a notice sent out by an Iowa school district. As the resident who sent it to me wrote, “Evidently it is now a crime to even speak to a child waiting for the bus. Two men in a truck! Everybody run!” (Boldface mine.) Subject: Stranger Danger Alert: 1300 Block of NW 92nd Street, Clive Dear West Des Moines Community Schools Families: The following information was reported to the Clive Police Department: On May 22, 2015 at 8:35 AM, an 11-year-old student reported waiting for the school bus in the 1300 block of NW 92nd Street in Clive. The…
A dismaying letter followed by an infuriating news item. Aren’t you glad you got up today? Dear Free-Range Kids: My girlfriend and I were strolling through the Western North Carolina Nature Center. There’s a lovely climbing structure for the kids that is supposed to resemble a spider’s web. Though there is the usual soft material underneath, it would actually be difficult to fall off. The thing that caught my attention was what we heard from the mothers in the short time it took us to walk past. One called out, “Be careful! You’ll fall!” The second, “Remember that Allie is…
A reader just wrote to ask why do I keep scaring Free-Rangers by publicizing the worst and rarest cases of cops and CPS overreach? Stories like what happened to the Meitivs of Maryland, or the family of the 11-year-old in Florida, or Debra Harrell, the mom in South Carolina who spent a night in jail for letting her 9 year old play at the local park? Or this one, out of Chicago? Okay, okay — I’ll stop. (Wait — how about this one in New Jersey?) The answer is simple. My goal isn’t to scare — I actually wish I…