I hope you are planning to take your kids to your local park and leave them there on Saturday, May 9. Me, I will be spending “Take Our Children to the Park … and Let Them Walk Home by Themselves Day” morning at the Central Park playground at 85th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Joining me will be one of the wisest men I know, that huge champion of kids playing unsupervised: Peter Gray! Gray is a professor at Boston College and author of the basic psychology textbook used at colleges all over America, including Harvard. No slouch. He…
Author: lskenazy
This pseudo-helpful video, posted Saturday, is viral in every sense of the word. It already has nearly a million views, which means that people are sharing it like crazy, convinced that its creator, Joey Salads, is doing something other than creating terror, angst and hate with his Stranger Danger “social experiment.” But he’s not. As you’ll see, Mr. Salads asks parents if they’ve taught their kids not to talk to strangers — a lesson I don’t endorse, since most strangers are good and you want kids to feel confident asking strangers for help, if they need it. “You can TALK…
As we gear up for Take Our Children to the Park…And Let Them Walk Home by Themselves Day, which is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 9, I’m wondering if we could crowd-source a photo documentary. What I’m looking for is photos of playgrounds across the United States (and wherever else you readers are) on a non-rainy weekend day. Are our playgrounds brimming with kids or not? Let’s find out! If you could take a photo of your local playground and email it to me at lenore@freerangekids.com, that would be great. Even better: Can you add this info? Name…
Somehow, seeing a naked 4 year old running around in front of his house (that is, the kid in front of the kid’s own house) conjured up worst-first thoughts in a neighbor, even though, if the neighbor paused a second, he’d have a hard time articulating exactly what “crime” he thought he was witnessing. The story out of British Columbia, as reported by the CBC, is this: Ian McIlwaine of Squamish, B.C., said his family is “shaken and very upset” after RCMP, responding to a complaint by neighbours, visited the family’s home because his four-year-old son was playing in the…
A boy of 11 was detained in a Lego store for being “too young” to shop on his own. This note to the store comes to us from his father, Doug Dunlop, who describes himself as an outdoor dad in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I have edited this down a little, but here’s what he wrote to the store: Dear Lego, Today, our son went to the Lego store in Chinook Mall, Calgary, Alberta. He had over $200 and was intending to purchase some Lego with it. He is a frequent customer and a skilled Lego builder. He uses…
If you’re wondering if it’s legal or illegal to let your kids walk to the park in Silver Spring, Maryland, the answer is yes. On the one hand, yes it is legal. Donna St George in the Washington Post quotes a memo drawn up by Montgomery County police and human-services officials in response to a query by the County Council about local policies. It states: “If the officer does not believe the circumstances constitute neglect, the officer can notify a parent or guardian about the situation… Again, the facts and circumstances of each case would drive the decision-making process and,…
It’s almost bizarre how much Bill Maher hits every point we make here all the time (except I’ve never mentioned Japanese businessmen and squid). Let’s hope next he will endorse the May 9 “Take Our Children to the Park…and Let Them Walk Home by Themselves” Day. And while we’re at it, here’s the president of WMTW in Maine, below. I have to admit: It is really amazing — weird, even — to hear so many different people saying what we’ve been saying here since 2008, and even saying “Free-Range.” All along, we have been insisting that it is not nuts…
Gever Tulley is a big-time hero of mine. He did one of the earliest, best Ted Talks: “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do.” He also founded the Tinkering School in San Fran (and elsewhere now, too), where young kids are given power tools and encouragement. Then he and his wife Julie Spiegler wrote “50 Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do).” And then, in 2011, he went whole hog and founded the Brightworks school in San Fran. I visited that sunny school set in an old Best Foods Mayo factory, and it blew me away. When…
. What a fantastic myth-debunking piece in the Washington Post by Christopher Ingraham about the FACT that kids are SAFER today than…ever. First of all, there’s the decline in child mortality that we almost take for granted: In 1935 there 450 deaths for every 100,000 kids age 1-4. Today? Less than 30. Our jaws should drop. But it’s not like we have to look THAT far back to see gains. Among children of all ages, he writes, mortality rates have fallen by nearly half since 1990 and — Part of that decline is a drop in child homicides. As…
Hi Folks! Free-Range Kids still needs a logo that looks as good on a billboard as it does on an app. Prize is $100 and bragging rights. I’m extending the deadline to June 1 (my mom’s birthday) to allow more folks to enter. As for ideas, one thing I’ve realized is that depicting children in the logo ends up making it seem as if the movement is geared toward whatever age the kids in the logo are. Since the movement is about all ages (and is really about rejecting the idea that our kids are in constant danger), it’s a…