Readers — I not only appreciated this letter one of you just sent, I found the Rosetta stone of parental worry in the article she links to! Dear Free-Range Kids Do you let your kids have sleepovers? Shame on you! Yes it’s time for the latest movement in overprotective idiocy, the Ban Sleepovers movement! Look: “7 Reasons to Say No to Sleepovers” Oh my God what were our parents thinking, letting us have SLEEPOVERS! We can’t let our kids might be tired the next day! They might not do well on all that ridiculous busywork from…
Author: lskenazy
Folks — Just got this press release in my emails. Somehow, I don’t think this book — Just What kind of Mother Are You, by Paula Daly — is just what kind of summer read we’re looking for: It is every parent’s worst fear: a missing child. But what if the child you’ve lost was not your own? The unthinkable happens to Lisa Kallisto—an overwhelmed working mother—who takes her eye off the ball for just a moment during an impossibly hectic week, and suddenly her whole world descends into a living nightmare. Her best friend’s thirteen-year-old daughter has gone missing,…
Hi Folks — Let’s hear it for Real Simple Magazine which is running an article by self-professed overprotective mom Jennifer Breheny Wallace who wanted to stop worrying so much. It begins: ” A couple of years ago, my then five-year-old son William took a standardized test in which he was asked about everyday objects. The tester noted his unusual responses to some questions. When asked ‘What do candy and ice cream have in common?’ William replied, ‘They both give you cavities.’ For the question ‘What is chewing gum?’ William answered, ‘A choking hazard.'” Jennifer wanted to be brave enough to…
To Anyone New Just Joining Us Here: Hello! Welcome! Glad you’re here! The Free-Range Movement is dedicated to the idea that our kids are safer and smarter than our society tells us they are, so we don’t have to worry quite as much as we do. That’s why I’m often asked: Haven’t parents always worried about their kids? Of course they have! I’m one of the worriers! Parents have always worried, because our job is to try to get our children all the way to adulthood, safe, reasonably happy, and ready for the real world. There are giant potholes brimming…
Folks — This was a comment made under a piece by me in The Wall Street Journal about how we are criminalizing parents who let their kids wait in the car while they run an errand. The commenter is named Pushpita Prasad and I salute her! — L. Pushpita Prasad: Here’s another very common scenario that plays out daily across America. Drop off at schools/daycares/pre-schools. You pull into the parking with the kid you actually need to drop of and their younger sibling — who often falls asleep during the drive. It could be raining/snowing/cold/hot outside. Your car in…
Hi Readers — This just in from Anna Gonzalez, a social media producer for Headline News, the channel running a special, “Would Your Kids Pass the Predator Test?” I commented on it yesterday, saying specials like these only reinforce the idea that predators are everywhere. Anna’s note: Thanks for the blog about the segment. I think something that Kyra Phillips said can help provide some insight into the special Friday: “As a mom, my child’s safety is my number one concern. And my greatest fear is abduction. So not only do I take this special personally, I think every family…
“Would Your Kids Pass the Predator Test?” is the name of a special Headline News is presenting tomorrow. It’s not surprising that they would do a show like this — when you’re in the headline business, every day is predator day, because that’s the headline that reliably grabs people. The problem is that when we hear about predators all the time, we start to believe that children are in danger all the time. That’s why kids are so helicoptered today: There’s the perception that no child is ever safe without direct adult supervision. A show that “tests” whether kids can…
Dear Folks — Free-Range Kids is not a movement dedicated to nostalgia. Nonetheless, remembering the things we were allowed to do as kids reminds us that a reasonably safe childhood does not require constant supervision, the way folks believe it does today. Hence, this piece. It comes to us from Bree Ervin, a social justice advocate who blogs at thinkbannedthoughts. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Earlier you called for “I let my kids… and…” stories. Well, this summer we decided the kids were ready to go to Blockbuster on their own (about 3/4 of a mile away). We prepared for…
Readers — This Facebook post by Luc Perreault in Sudbury, Ontario was sent to us by a guy named Michael Cattle and I believe is destined to become a country song, a poster, or a wildly viral post. At least I hope so. You read it here second! — Lenore To the family in the red SUV at Tim Horton’s today,, Yes I am a big 280 lbs guy with motorcycles and full of tattoos, I am a welder, I am loud, I drink beer, I swear and I look like I would eat your soul if you stare at…
Readers — The idea that our kids are only safe if they are under literally constant supervision is one that subtly but surely keeps changing childhood. Watch it at work in suburban Seattle: Dear Free-Range Kids: Hello! I want to share, but I really feel the need to stay anonymous, because clearly Free-Range children are not the norm, even if they should be. This Tuesday my 6 (nearly 7) year old daughter held a lemonade stand. She planned it very carefully, making mock-up signs until her spelling was perfect, making a list of supplies and arranging to purchase, borrow, or…