Hi Folks — Here’s yet another sign of the times: A news story about a Rhode Island school bus driver whose bus stalled in the snow. After a while the kids — a dozen middle school students — asked if they could just walk the 1.5 miles to school. Readers: He said yes! Readers: He didn’t lose a one! They all made it to school alive, if you can imagine that! Can you? Probably not, if you watch a lot of TV. Nonetheless, they did survive. I just hope we can say the same about the bus driver. — L.
Author: lskenazy
Readers — Next time you are at a restaurant, please remember that a lot of people have touched the menu before you, which means it is harboring germs. So wash your hands when you’re done with it, and make sure it never touches your plate or your utensils. Also, do not touch the ketchup bottle with your bare hands. Others have done exactly that before you, which only means more germs. So what should you do? Just ask the waitress bring you a fresh bottle — a new one, from someplace else (I guess someplace germ-free, like a centrifuge). Or…
Hi Readers — Here’s a story that elicits at least three reactions from me. An Air Canada plane, delayed because of weather, came back to its gate at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport at 2 a.m., whereupon it disgorged its passengers with a $10 food voucher and instructions to come back in the morning. Thus a 13-year-old on board found himself spending the night at the airport, by himself. The plane ended up leaving at 10 a.m. the next day. Now, my first reaction is: You’d think Air Canada would try to give its passengers lodging. I understand that bad weather…
Hi Readers — Another day, another dose of wacky overreaction. Luckily, this one comes pre-analyzed by a reader named Kim, who describes herself as the “mom of a 5-year-old girl who is determined to raise her to be even more Free-Range and self-confident than I was as a kid.” A noble goal — and, as you’ll see — a lovely write up of a ridiculous event. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I was going to mention this article in a brief comment in response to your post about the grandfather who was falsely reported as a pedophile, but the further…
Hi Readers! I had this piece on CNN.com yesterday and I’m happy to say that there are about 600 comments so far, many of them agreeing that simply making schools more inaccessible, bureaucratic and paranoid does not actually make them any safer! – L
Readers — It is with joy that I inform you that the Boulder Public Library has voted to junk its “No children under age 12 in the library without an adult” rule and replace it with the far better rule that kids in need of supervision must be accompanied by an adult. What a wonderful decision. You may recall that the original ruling, discussed here, stated: “The libraries are public buildings, and, open to everyone. Because the library is a public place, a child’s safety cannot be guaranteed. Children may encounter hazards such as stairs, elevators, doors, furniture, electrical…
Hi Readers — Here’s a “news” story that goes on for over three minutes (a lifetime in TV!) about a 5-year-old who was dropped off by the school bus at the wrong time, with no one to pick her up. I’m very sorry it happened but I’m almost sorrier that this is what passes for news: Oh my God! Something went wrong and a child was involved and it was confusing and annoying! How can we LIVE in a world like that? Alert the media! Me, I’m glad to live in a time that is SO SAFE that a…
Hi Readers — Here’s a cool study from Loyola University about something that doesn’t surprise me at all: The more that kids play on their own, the less likely they are to get injured while playing their organized sports. A press release about the study was titled, “To Protect Against Injuries, Young Athletes May Need to Play More Just for Fun.” It says: One way to avoid injuries in young athletes may be for them to simply spend more time in unorganized free play such as pick-up games, a Loyola University Medical Study has found. In a first-of-its-kind study, sports…
Hi Readers — This letter to the editor of the News Journal in Longview, TX, made me sad AND sick. Mostly I am disheartened by the way we so easily jump to the idea that if there’s a male near a kid, there’s something suspicious about the male. – L. An open letter to the person who called police on me at the water park: I would like to say I don’t have any hard feelings toward you but, unlike you, I try to be honest. I’m working on it because hard feelings only hurt the one who holds them.…
Readers, here’s the question that nags at me almost every day: How did we go from a time when we basically trusted our kids, our neighborhoods and our own parenting skills — even when we knew there were scary things out there — to a generation today that almost slathers itself in terror? A time now when we believe that our kids are constantly in danger not just from criminals, but from crippling disappointment if we don’t actively demonstrate, every single second, how proud we are of them, and how interested, and how nearby? Why do we think our kids…