Hi Readers — Security guru Bruce Schneier (author of “Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust That Society Needs to Thrive,”) is so right about a whole lot of things, including the fact that we should almost ignore what’s on the news when it comes to making both policy and personal decisions. Why? Because the news is filled with the rarest and most horrific events. So trying to plan our lives around them is like planning a trip to Florida solely around how to avoid shark attacks. Do that and you’d spend your whole beach vacation avoiding the water. It just…
Author: lskenazy
Readers — This note came in response to the post below this one, which was about how we often leap from tragedy to blame, in order to give ourselves a sense of control. That leap is pretty basic superstition: “If I just do/don’t do X, my kids will be safe.” It’s like wearing a rabbit’s foot: Somehow, God or the Fates will take note of your diligence and spare your child. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: The quote below is a Facebook post from someone in my feed who was invited to speak on a local news segment tonight regarding…
Readers, surely, not every horrifying event begs a Free-Range analysis, but I did want to say one thing about the Boston Marathon bombings. Beyond simply expressing my disgust and sadness, I’d note that, like so many tragedies, this one was absolutely unpredictable. No one attending did anything remotely ill-advised or imprudent, yet some found themselves in danger’s way nonetheless. Let’s remember this lightning-bolt quality when tragedies befall others, especially children. We do have a way, often, of thinking bad things happen only to the children of bad parents. When a child is hurt and a parent was not supervising, the…
Readers — This note comes to us from Nathalie Delage up north, where “Canadian Tire” apparently sells paranoia, too! — L. Dear Free Range Kids: Have you seen these baby carseat videocameras? They stream live video from the backseat to a monitor you attach to your windshield like a GPS. I wonder what exactly a parent needs to worry about while their child is 2 feet behind them? I especially love the tag line: “Watch. Concentrate. Smile, you and the people around you are safe!” This thing normally retails at $169.99, but can be yours this week at Canadian…
Hi Folks! This lovely photo and note come to us from Paul Beard, who describes himself as growing up a Free-Range Kid “before we knew what it was.” He now lives with his wife and two high school kids in Seattle, where he “involuntarily retired from Internet technology to become COO/GM of domestic affairs, now considering options post-graduation (theirs, not mine).” He tweets here, blogs here and here he is again, on Linked In! (Intriguing resume.) – L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: As a fan of the Free-Range ethos and a lover of old photographs or ephemera of the past,…
Hi Readers — I didn’t see the “Shooting Star” episode of Glee last night that featured a lockdown after shots rang out at the uber-musical school. (And I can’t find it on the web without going to some very scary sites that seem ready to infect my computer with high-tech herpes.) But some of you have alerted me to the plot, which is why it’s today’s topic. So, spoiler alert: Turns out there’s no mad gunman, but for a while the audience doesn’t realize this, and neither, of course, do the characters. The script was written before the Sandy Hook…
Hi Folks! This oped of mine recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Afterwards, I heard from guess who? Hint: She’s Chief Operating Officer of a very popular social network — and a Free-Range Kids fan! Here’s to spreading the “Kids are not in constant danger” message…perhaps via social media? — L LEAN IN AND THE ERA OF THE INCONVENIENCED MOM How can you devote yourself to a career when you’re busy being a helicopter parent? by Lenore Skenazy ‘Lean In,” says Sheryl Sandberg in her new book by that name. As chief operating officer of Facebook, she is encouraging…
Hey Readers — How is it that one country can train its young people to be safe, smart and responsible bicyclists, while other countries — like mine — train its young people to climb in the car and eat Goldfish? As Sarah Goodyear writes in The Atlantic Cities: “Dutch children are expected to learn and follow the rules of the road, because starting in secondary school — at age 12 — they are expected to be able to ride their bikes on their own to school, sometimes as far as nine or 10 miles.” This 3-minute video, featured on Goodyear’s…
Readers — At the request of the woman who wrote to me about her husband landing on the Sex Offender List for 25 years for putting a $5 tip down a 17-year-old’s shirt, I have taken down her post. I share her concern that some of the comments were painful. We all agree, I’m sure, that we do not want sex offenders preying on children. But I hope we all agree, too, that there is a difference between tormenting a child and being a Class A jerk for a minute or two. Putting the latter on the sex offender registry…
Hi Folks — We all agree that it makes sense to be aware of child abuse, and even to look out for it. But to assume “Abuse!” when another explanation is not only proffered but also likely, well, that is classic worst-first thinking: Leaping to the WORST conclusion FIRST and proceeding as if it simply must be the case. That’s what happened in this Star Tribune story by Abby Simons. (Any relation to the late Howard Simons of the Washington Post?) — L. The baby fell — and then the Plymouth parents’ real pain began by Abby Simons Little…