. Like everyone else, I wish that the suicidal Germanwings pilot had been stopped from boarding the plane. I even think it makes sense for Europe to copy our “two people in the cockpit at all times” rule. Nonetheless, I love this essay by Stacey Gordon on her blog Xray Vision about the impossibility of predicting and preventing every tragedy. SHOULDACOULDAWOULDA, by Stacey Gordon After every tragedy that involves numerous casualties has been analyzed from every conceivable angle; after it has been Monday morning quarterbacked to death by the 24 hours news cycle, a mantra is born. It is always…
Author: lskenazy
British parents in Cheshire are on notice: Let your kids play a “mature” videogame and this will not go unnoticed by the state. This new level of micromanagement comes to us from SpikedOnline writer Nancy McDermott, who says, “Amazing how abuse has been defined down to patents making a banal decision others don’t agree with.” The story? ITV reports: Parents have been told by headteachers [the British word for “principals’] that they will be reported to police and social services for neglect if they allow their children to play over-18 computer games, according to the Sunday Times. The newspaper reported…
Occupational therapist Angela Hanscom is founder of the New England nature-based program TimberNook, and author of a bunch of fascinating articles, including “Why So Many Kids Can’t Sit Still in School Today.” Her latest piece is about how we’re inadvertently depriving children of the opportunity to learn how to use their muscles, which leads them to a strange new kind of body-incompetence. This essay appears on Valerie Strauss’ blog in The Washington Post. Why Kids Are Getting More Aggressive on the Playground, by Angela Hanscom Tag — a simple game of tag. Seems innocent enough. But is it? Not according…
One of the reasons many of us end up supervising our kids so much today is that when we DO watch our kids’ every messy interaction, we see so much more than our own parents ever saw, and are shocked and dismayed. So we stay closer to monitor more, which means we see MORE frustrating-but-normal interactions and are even MORE dismayed. It becomes a vicious circle — we can’t leave them alone because when we’re with them we think, “Boy, if we weren’t here, they could never handle this stuff by themselves!” We forget that when we were young, we…
This past Sunday I held a “Sex Offender Brunch.” Doesn’t everyone? A few days later a reporter from Salon called me up to ask about it. So here’s an excerpt from what I told her. And here’s my piece in the NY Daily News also about the brunch. (This story is lasting as long as the leftovers!) Note: However interesting my remarks may be, the reader comment by “Zoomie” (a person I don’t know) is moreso. How did you arrive at taking up reform of the sex offender registry as a cause? Well, I’m interested in keeping kids safe and…
This story is sickeningly sad, but the original verdict made it intensely worse. A reader writes: Marta Corvi was grateful when the Juarez family in Dallas, Georgia, told her she could live with them until she found a job. All she had to do in exchange was cook, clean, and watch their 5 year old, Sophia Juarez. One day in June of 2012, Corvi brought her granddaughter Mia, also age 5, over for a sleepover. The girls giggled, played and woke up early the next, rainy morning eager to start all over. They asked if they could swim and Marta…
The mom who Twitters as Mainline Housewife (mainlinewife) sends us proof that we can never underestimate the how far our obsession over child safety can go: But wait — this doesn’t even require a notary?
A reader writes: Dear Lenore: My ex father in law is in the hospital. Yesterday we went to a park in Hackensack [NJ] and Elizabeth 6 was having fun and I was cold so I was sitting in the car watching sort of. Elizabeth knew she could come to the car anytime. I looked up and a police officer was talking to Elizabeth. I took a deep breath and got out and let the officer know that I was watching and with her the whole time. Heart racing. I got the happiest most shocking response. The officer said that the…
What happens when a generation grows up being told that they need constant supervision because nothing is safe enough? That they should never encounter a bad grade or mean remark, it’s too wounding? That they didn’t lose, they are the “8th place winner!”? At least a slice of them become convinced that they are extremely emotionally fragile. They need — they demand — the kind of life-buffers they’ve had since childhood. Which brings us to this just plain remarkable essay by Judith Shulevitz in yesterday’s New York Times. It begins: KATHERINE BYRON, a senior at Brown University and a member…
Gracious me! This brand of yarn can unravel! Have you ever heard of such a thing? It’s just too scary! How irresponsible can a yarn maker be? No wonder the Consumer Product Safety Commission just issued this dire warning: Name of Product: Bernat Tizzy Yarn Hazard: In finished knit or crochet items, the yarn can unravel or snag and form a loop, posing an entanglement hazard to young children. Incidents/Injuries: Bernat has received two reports of children becoming entangled from unraveling or snagging yarn blankets. No injuries have been reported. Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the yarn or finished…