Readers — I was just on a radio show talking about how we reflexively inflate the dangers facing children, and while I was on, this email came to Free-Range Kids. It illustrates what I spend most of my waking hours dealing with: The belief that our kids are in constant danger, so only constant supervision can “save” them. Can you please help this woman convince her husband that her child-rearing decisions are safe and sane? And, while we’re at it, can you convince everyone else, too? Because I’m shaking from the radio thing. (Details: A caller insisted that a 6-year-old…
Author: lskenazy
Yep, folks, it’s another Zero Tolerance situation. Sounds like a second grade boy in Ohio brought two toy guns to school, one of which ostensibly looked real. If it did, I can certainly understand administrators being concerned. You don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. I sure don’t. But why suspend the kid? Just tell him not to do it again. Sheesh! He’s in second grade! And why have the police involved? And why refer to the toys as “weapons,” as the news article does? Overkill, thy name is America! Anyway, I did appreciate the one comment this story engendered.…
Readers — There’s hope! In a way, all the ridiculous Zero Tolerance incidents of the past few weeks — the kids suspended for the Hello Kitty bubble gun, and the Lego gun, and the imaginary grenade throw in a game of imaginary save-the-world, and last but not least the terrifying pastry gun — have given impetus to a bill proposed by Maryland State Senator J.B. Jennings (R). His “Reasonable School Discipline Act of 2013” would de-criminalize kids who are playing and happen to make or mention a play gun. The proposed law begins: FOR the purpose of prohibiting a principal…
Hi Folks! Here’s a question that resonated for me — and an answer that did, too. Both appeared in recent comments. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Having killed time on my pm commute reading the comments on the Seattle blog about local schools going on lockdown due to a thief in the neighborhood (don’t worry, I wasn’t driving!), I am struck with the thought that for many people today, love=protection at all costs. [LENORE’S NOTE: Many parents were thrilled with the school closings, despite the tiny danger posed.] It is not a new idea on this site that our culture…
Readers – I just had a great time in Vancouver, where I gave a speech inaugurating the International Children’s Festival’s new “PEP Talk Series.” While there I met a lot of Free-Rangers who were very inspiring, including journalist/”urban experimentalist” Charles Montgomery, whose Happy City book will be coming out this fall. Among other things, it examines something we talk about here: How people are happier when they connect with their neighbors and neighborhoods. That’s true for adults and for kids. Think of your own childhood — wasn’t at least part of it spent in a swarm? One impediment to spontaneous,…
As one meme forum added: “Counselors will be available for all traumatized students.” Phew!
Hi Folks — This comes to us from a mom in Israel named Sorcha! Maybe your kids can have a weekend like hers! – L Dear Free-Range Kids; I have 3 boys (10,7, 3) and since finding your blog a couple of years ago have been consciously trying to follow the Free-Range philosophy. Admittedly, this is easier because we live in Israel which in general, (although this is changing) has a more independent outlook for children. For the last week or so, my older sons, along with some of the other kids from our neighborhood, have been building a “machanay”…
Readers, once in a while — if you ignore the school safety drills involving real helicopters and the school boy suspensions involving imaginary guns — you can feel like things are going in exactly the right direction. This is one of those moments. Look at this article, “Call to Ditch Red Tape on Playtime Safety”: …Paperwork designed to protect children at play can be discarded, according to “seminal” guidelines issued by the Health and Safety Executive. In a plain-speaking statement,it dismisses the “misguided security blanket” of reams of paperwork that purport to prevent children from harm. The statement went…
Readers — Just another note from the frontlines of our freaking-out country! Got this yesterday: Dear Free-Range Kids: I found this story, currently going on in my greater neighborhood as I type this, incredibly alarmist. A little background: I live in a nice, average neighborhood in Seattle. We have a neighborhood blog that sometimes beats the drum of 1) call the cops on strangers, 2) never answer the door. If that is the suggestion to able adults, you can imagine how crazy we get with children. Anyhow, story is, someone wanted on a warrant for theft is on the…
Ach! You haf zee streudel nightmares too? My 17th patient today! Folks — You’ll recall the case from a few days ago when a boy was suspended from school for the crime of biting what sounds like a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun. (Supposedly he was just trying to bite it into”the shape of a mountain,” but, sure — whatever, kid. Just tell it to the judge.) Well now the school seems to be offering its students counseling. What a relief! I’d worried the kids would be left to struggle with PPTTSD (Post-Pop-Tart-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder) on their own, perhaps…