From my mailbox: Hi Lenore, Fadi Adawi, former Deputy County Sheriff in California’s Central Valley, took his career from fighting crime on the streets to developing one of the world’s largest websites, InstantCheckmate.com, which helps people be proactive about their safety. As a former law enforcement officer, Fadi learned that looks can be deceiving—criminals often look just like you and me. Fadi recommends using Instant Checkmate to screen the parents of your children’s friends to know who is supervising their play date…[and] to investigate your college daughter’s new boyfriend to be sure he doesn’t have a criminal record, and much…
Author: lskenazy
Readers — I find this story by Colleen Creamer flabbergasting: A grandmother in the tiny town of Charlotte, TN, allowed her four grandkids, ages 7 – 12, to ride up and down her street. For this she found herself in violation of a 2003 city code that declares no one can “ride an all terrain vehicle, skateboard, roller blades and roller skates or conduct similar activities on city streets, in the city park or on the Court Square of Charlotte.” While that Grinch-y list doesn’t mention bikes, Mayor Bill Davis told The Tennessean paper that it was “absolutely” true that…
From My Mailbox: Dear Blogger: We’ve all seen or heard of the hit movie “Taken” starring the beloved Liam Neeson, where his daughter is kidnapped upon arrival to Europe without a single trace as to where she might have disappeared. Ever since, this movie has given nightmares to parents and travelers alike who can’t anticipate whether they might be the next to be snatched up. What if travelers could be tracked internationally and have access to a phone with an international data plan at their fingertips? Darned if that wasn’t EXACTLY the question I was asking myself: What if MY…
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…
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…