Hi Folks! This post comes to us from Ian Proud, research manager for Playworld Systems, where he championed the development of the playground equipment that appeals to all kids — including those with non-obvious disabilities, like autism — by being fun for everyone. He also teaches product design, marketing and creativity courses at the college level, and declares “a lifelong fascination with trends, the future, and how we manage change.” He’s ahead of the curve on this issue. — L. Playgrounds: No Danger = No Fun? by Ian Proud Most children yearn for a sense of thrill and excitement on…
Author: lskenazy
Folks, this image comes to us from Linda McGurk at Rain or Shine Mamma, where, she says, “We believe that the best childhood memories are created outside, while jumping in puddles, digging in dirt, catching frogs and climbing trees, and that outdoor play is key to restoring the connection between child and nature.” Go to her blog or Facebook page to join her mission to get every child outside every day, regardless of the weather. Having just encountered a frog tonight that jumped on me (I’m in Florida), I can tell you there is something thrilling even about the simplest…
Hey Readers! It turns out we’re not the only folks disgusted by the story highlighted here yesterday describing the “characteristics” of a pedophile (basically: anyone who’s male and has ever been near a kid). Apparently the fear-mongering has upset an entire continent: Australia, where it was published. One blog tore the piece apart thusly: Child abuse advocates and experts have rubbished Australia’s most-read website, news.com.au, for running a story advising readers how to spot a paedophile. They say the checklist was inaccurate, irresponsible stereotyping. The article, published yesterday, warns the reader of nine different “types” of child molesters and the…
Hi Folks! A reader writes: “Thought you might be interested in this ‘How to Spot a Pedophile’ list, which enraged me. It narrows down the field of potential pedophile suspects to ‘any adult male who has ever had contact with children’. As somebody who ticks several of the boxes here (worked with kids, babysat for friends, among others) I’m enraged that those things somehow make me a suspect.” While we always stress here that it is GOOD to teach kids to understand how to recognize, resist and report sexual abuse, it’s also good for parents to understand that just because…
Hi Readers — I’m wondering whether folks somehow feel MORE Free-Range when they’re on vacation, and if so — how come? Is it because when we relax, we relax about danger, too? Or do we somehow trust other environments more than our own? Or is it only the confines of a Disney resort? Anyway, this post comes to us from Michelle Rise, who describes herself as “a homemaker, mother of 5 who has had over 20 years of experience trekking through the Disney parks with her family.” She Tweets @Rise7Up. – L GIVING KIDS FREEDOM WHEN TRAVELING by Michelle Rise…
Readers — Are you and your children ready for a nuclear explosion set off by terrorists during the school day when the highways are so jammed you’d get stuck in traffic trying to reach them and die of radiation poisoning? That is the pressing question posed by California’s Ventura County Health Department, as you’ll see in the memo below. There is something bizarrely fatalistic about telling folks to stay inside so their kids “will have healthy parents to come home to.” They WILL? Not, “If this happens, this could happen and then this COULD happen…” Just, they “WILL”? And does…
Dear Readers: School has begun, which means that at least one group of sixth graders is about to undergo an enormous, transformative experience. Hint: It does not involve filling in any bubbles with a #2 pencil. It involves getting out into the world. As I’ve mentioned here before, every year, Joanna Drusin, an English teacher at a magnet school in Manhattan, has her students, age 11, do a “Free-Range Kids” project. That is, they can pick one thing that they think they are ready to do (that’s legal!) that, for some reason, they haven’t done till now. Once they…
Readers — Here’s the story of a girl who had a great summer, thanks to confident parents, an abundance of local kids and a dearth of 911-dialing neighbors. It was a good reminder even for ME that kids can be on their own a lot more than we’ve gotten used to, or even feel comfortable with. – L Dear Free-Range Kids: As a Free-Range mom who was raised Free-Range herself, I just had to share this story. We live in Southern California, about 30 miles north of San Diego, in a city of 150,000. This summer I decided to let…
Hey Readers — The folks at financial T. Rowe Price asked if they could sponsor a post and I said sure — provided they write about something Free-Range. Stuart Ritter, a financial planner there, obliged and voila — some basic help with a topic I find hard to talk about with my own kids (not to mention my own soul): How to manage money. – L To All Free Range Parents — Teach Kids Financial Literacy or They Won’t Leave the Ranch Here is a scary thought: according to a survey released by T. Rowe Price earlier this year,…
Readers — Here’s a marketing video designed to drive us crazy. How? It makes us worry about a problem that is exceedingly rare, easily avoided and yet dramatically re-enacted to a soundtrack that veers from heartbreakingly sad to effervescently hopeful JUST at the moment the product-as-hero shows up. The ad and the idea encapsulate the exact zeitgeist of our time: In the absence of cholera, polio, famine, dropsy, diphtheria, cholera, death by stoning and the Gestapo, we are urged to focus nonetheless on the fact our kids COULD DIE very easily TOMORROW unless we take serious precautions. Also, if we…