Readers — So many truths turn out to be counter-intuitive, including this little lesson from a Canadian Hockey Mom: At a hockey tournament last weekend, where EVERYTHING was adult-organized, and the only “toy” these grade 6 and 7 boys brought along was a goddamned Playstation or Xbox or some crap like that with games where everyone is machine gunning each other to death, some kids self-organized into a little group playing soccer with a Wiffle ball in the hallway. The hotel management requested that our group avail ourselves of the “breakfast room” that was not in use in the off…
Author: lskenazy
Readers — This is a strange and upsetting video about a dad in Tennessee who walked to the local school to pick up his kids — 8 and 14 — and was told he had to wait in the line of cars (or at least, wait as LONG as the parents in cars) to get them. As he was on foot, this made no sense, a point he argued with the police officer at the school who, as you’ll see, then put the dad in handcuffs and drove him off in the police car. As bizarre as this incident is,…
Hi Readers — This comes to us from a mom in Georgia who says she is all for her son following the rules, “But A) He didn’t even know this was a rule he needed to follow. And B) The rules should make sense- shouldn’t they?” Our favorite question! – L Dear Free-Range Kids: I was working today when I received a call from the assistant principal of discipline at my 3rd grader’s school. Ryan is a pretty good child, we’ve never had any issues, so at first I was a little confused. The assistant (she has an Ed.D!!)…
Just in case you thought the world was getting a little more sensible: I realize it’s hard to read, so a bigger photo and an explanation of this “ticket” is to be found on the wonderful blog, Weighty Matters. Apparently, all parent-supplied lunches MUST include 1 milk, 1 meat (good luck to the Orthodox Jews who are not allowed to eat both at one meal!), 1 grain, 2 fruits and vegetables. While the lunch from home in this case had homemade roast beef and potatoes, carrots, an orange and some milk, it was missing a grain. The horror! The school…
Yes! Yes! Yes! Everything we’ve been trying to say for five years PLUS a tune. And zombies! And baby dinosaurs! This should SO be our theme song!! Now watch it again and try to just read the crawl. SOOOOOO good! – L
Readers — One of the fundamentals of Free-Range Kids is that kids are not in constant need of adult supervision. That includes adult-supervised enrichment. Some enrichment is fine — better than fine, it’s good! But replacing all free time with adult-led activities is like replacing all whole grains with enriched white flour. At some point in society, we thought that was for the best. It was new and improved! Now we are rethinking it. That’s why I love the work of Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn. I also appreciate this essay, “The Kids Don’t Play Anymore,” by…
Readers — It’s great to be neighborly and share info. It’s less great when little blips turn into fears turn into anger turn into the quote in the headline, which comes to us from this Facebook exchange, sent in by a reader named Adam Parson (who deleted all the other last names). – L Cathy: Just an FYI, there was a silver/gray mid size car sitting at the bus stop this morning, car running and headlights on. When I got to the stop with my child, the car slowly pulled up, drove around the cup-de-sac, and left. I couldn’t see…
Folks — This story is one that is perhaps a little less egregious than it appears at first blush. On Monday, a middle school banned its students from wearing t-shirts memorializing a 6th grader, Caitlyn Jackson, who died of leukemia over the weekend: …as students arrived in the memorial shirts Monday morning, school administrators asked them to change the shirts, turn them inside out, or put duct tape over Caitlyn’s name. That’s ridiculous. Agreed. The school’s reasoning? Jones said the district’s decision was based on its “crisis management plan,” which she said is “based on a lot of research and…
Readers — This is a fantastic essay from Parents, by Kara Corridan, the magazine’s health editor. Read the whole thing here. – L Worry Doesn’t Equal Love by Kara Corridan Lately I’ve felt as though I’m part of a competition I didn’t enter. It’s called “Who Loves Her Child More?” And I seem to be losing–if the only way to succeed in it is to worry. It started at the church carnival. My almost-4-year-old found one of the few rides she was tall enough to go on, the kind where you sit in an “animal” that goes up and…
Readers — This tragedy happened over the summer, but recently resurfaced as an investigation opened. Briefly: A British man was taking photos of teens vandalizing his hanging plants in order to give their pictures to the police. But he was mistaken for a “pedo” taking pictures of teens for kicks. When the police came to get him, the neighborhood screamed, “Pedo! Pedo!” as he was led away. Although the police quickly realized their error and understood the man was perfectly innocent, he was murdered two days later. Here’s the note I got about it: Dear Free-Range Kids: Proud Free-Range mom…