Hi Folks — This piece about child friendship is fascinating to me. I’d love you to ponder what to me is the main point: Isn’t it easier to make a friend while working on something together (especially something big), than while simply talking about friendship? A parallel thought: If you’ve ever taken a class on writing novels, plays, or anything dramatic (for me it was musicals), you know the credo: “Show, don’t tell!” Don’t have Romeo just yammering about how much he loves Juliet and wants to spend his life with her and how really sorry he’d feel if anything…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers! A couple of you sent in this provocative piece, “Three Huge Mistakes We Make Leading Kids…And How to Correct Them.” It’s by Tim Elmore, a writer/speaker specializing in leadership. His philosophy about what kids require to become confident, competent and, well, leaders dovetails remarkably with Free-Range Kids’. After warning parents that children need more risk and less mindless reward (like constantly being told they’re great for doing ordinary things), he writes: This may sound harsh, but rescuing and over-indulging our children is one of the most insidious forms of child abuse. It’s “parenting for the short-term” and it…
Hi Readers —How I love being an “online influencer.” It means I get a ton of press releases from folks seeking publicity, including one that just came in suggesting I interview a particular “socialmedia expert” regarding “How to Protect Your Family from Social Media.” I guess if this were a generation or two earlier she would have been offering advice on “How to Protect Your Family from The Telephone,” and before that, “How to Protect Your Family from the Telegraph,” or maybe cave drawings. Because, clearly, people communicating with each other is something inherently dangerous. The expert’s expertise includes, according…
Hi Readers — Here’s a piece of mine that ran in The Wall Street Journal. Woof! (Doggie for, “Enjoy!”) – L. Helicopter Parents — Meet Helicopter Pet-Owning by Lenore Skenazy If you’re considering getting a pet at this time of year, as many folks do, you may find the rescue shelters a little pickier than you’d expect. Perhaps a little pickier than the royal family choosing a governess. Here are the requirements on one pet-rescue website: “All dogs must be constantly supervised in their yards for their safety. Dogs of any size can scale fences within minutes of an owner’s…
Readers — As we continue to document the infantilization of young people, including how and why this trend began, here’s a bright trail to one of the culprits: The insurance industry. Remember, insurance has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking all freedom and responsibility away from minors. If kids were all in cages, unable to walk to school, ride a bike, play outside or, in this case, let themselves into the house, the insurance world would rejoice, because the chances of anything “bad” happening to them would be even lower than they are now. Of course, so…
Hey Readers — Hadn’t realized there was a tempest in a toy robbery going on in England, where the media are reporting anger at Playmobil’s age-old cops and robbers set: Wearing dark glasses, the blonde dolly points her pistol at the smiley bank manager as he happily hands over the cash. It’s just one of the fun blags four-year-old kids can act out in Playmobil’s Bank and Safe set — and it is getting anti-gun campaigners all fired up, the Sunday People reports. Other scenarios include a gold bullion raid and cash machine heist. An anti-violence activist is then quoted…
Readers — I don’t like hopping on every new study that supposedly “proves” something about parenting, especially when I believe that parents are only one part of the many, MANY influences that shape a life. (Especially by college age!) Still, this study might interest some parents reconsidering the heap of “help” they believe their kids need. So I present it to you much not so much as news, but as a nugget to chew on when you’re wondering if maybe it’s time to take a step back. It’s also a little ammo for when someone wonders why aren’t you watching…
Readers — Here’s a great letter by George Mason economist Alex Tabarrok that he graciously allowed me to lift from his blog, Marginal Revolution. – L. Dear Principal _____, Thank you for requesting feedback about the installation of interior cameras at the high school. I am against the use of cameras. I visited the school recently to pick up my son and it was like visiting a prison. A police car often sits outside the school and upon entry a security guard directs visitors to the main office where the visitor’s drivers license is scanned and information including date of…
Hey Readers — You may recall this post from two weeks ago about playground equipment purchased by a Fairfax, VA, PTA from a reputable manufacturer that was installed at a local grammar school over the summer and then suddenly declared “unsafe.” Since Nov. 30 it had been wrapped up in tape of every sort — yellow crime tape and red metaphorical tape — even though the very same piece of equipment can be found in over 1,000 other playgrounds nationally, and it meets all national and even some international safety standards. Well praise the lord and jump over the monkey…
Hi Readers! Last night I did a podcast with Kari Svenneby, a native of Norway now living in Toronto and founder of the pro-outdoors site and movement, Active Kids Club. The topic was “cold weather fun.” Those three words happen not to go together for me, but I think they could and should for a lot of kids. Which is why afterwards, when we did a little Facebook chat, one of the comments hit me in the face like a snowball. Concerning dwindling winter recess time, a woman named Debra Scott wrote: Kari has been saying for ages that…