Hi Readers! Here’s a piece I wrote for my syndicated column: Coming up this Saturday is holiday you didn’t celebrate as a child, because you didn’t have to. You just got up, ate breakfast and sped off to the park. No big deal. Except it is now. Around the country, the parks are empty. Or, if there are kids around, they’re tiny tots on the jungle gym with parents poised tensely below, arms open, ready for the worst. The older kids are at home on their computers, or off at travel soccer, or studying with a tutor. Or they’re simply…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers! The other day I had a piece in the Wall Street Journal that said moms don’t have be “sherpas,” or hover 24/7. Today the paper published its letters to the editor about it (and me). Here they are. One was from a woman who was kidnapped at age 4 by a stranger, and found 24 hours later. She is an adult today and says her mother spent the rest of her life feeling guilty. I feel terrible for everyone involved. I also feel a little bad that the letter writer thinks she has to explain that “child abduction…
Hi Readers! Here you go! — L Dear Free-Range Kids: I live in a small town (less than 300 residents) in Southwest Pennsylvania, and regardless of the image the local-ish news channels portray, it is VERY safe. I grew up in the house I am living in, my parents live next door. The other day I was working in the yard, repainting some furniture. I heard my 2-year-old come out then turn around and bang on the door she just exited. My mom came to the door and asked Gwen if she wanted to come in. I didn’t hear anything…
Hi Readers! I’m in Toronto today to do the Marilyn Denis Show this morning and a free talk tonight. It’s at the Beverly Acre Public School in Richmond Hill, just north of Toronto, 7 – 9 p.m. Maybe see you there? Hope so! And if you are interested in being on my reality show, please drop a note to Sylvia Lee: slee@cineflix.com, or call her at 1-416-504-7317 ext. 618.We’re looking for families in/near Toronto or New York City who are overprotective but ready (or almost ready) to loosen the reins a bit, with a visit from yours truly. — L
Hey Readers! Once in a while, common sense actually wins a biggie. That’s what’s happening right now in Texas, where the governor seems set to sign a “Romeo & Juliet” bill that would prevent teens and young adults who have consensual sex from ending up as official “Sex Offenders,” required to register for life. Yes, that’s really how the law stood — until now. According to the Star-Telegram: Under current law, according to a legislative analysis of the bill, there is no such thing as consensual sex with a minor in Texas. Currently, a man who is 18, 19 or…
Hi Readers: Here you go! The dot-dot-dots are his, not mine. – L Dear Free-Range Kids: I am the Pastor of the church with the policy that is quoted in this blog post. [The one below this one.] And I found you through the significant traffic to the church website through this blog. A group that claims to appreciate helmets for their children, but sees no need to run background checks or have a Safe Haven policy is not facing reality. I am not a fear-monger. My children DO ride to the store on their own. But…
Hi Readers: Here’s a letter from the front lines of (excessive) child saftey, and how it is changing society. — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: With your recent posts about risk adversity, I wanted to tell you about a horrendous trend that is starting to appear in churches: husbands and wives are no longer allowed to work together in children’s ministry. One would think that a husband/wife team would be exactly what a church would want in helping to nourish youth. But it seems that insurance companies and risk-adversity have gotten the better of people’s common sense. Basically, the idea is…
Hi Readers! As “Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day” approaches on Saturday, May 21st, I find myself doing one of my favorite Free-Range things. That is, I remind myself that our hyper-fears for our children are out of whack with what many children face — and overcome — on a daily basis in the rest of the world. After all, I’m only suggesting that we let our kids play for a little while at the local playground, unsupervised, starting at about the same age as these kids:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra4WmE-joMQ] P.S. If you ARE planning to participate in Take…
Hello, Readers: If we are ruled by fear, fear will make the rules. And by “fear” I mean mass hysteria. Here is the latest assault on sanity and rights: A law is being proposed in Maine that will make it a crime for adults to stare at kids. You read that right (with those eyes you’d better keep to yourself). Those who peer at children in public could find themselves on the wrong side of the law in Maine soon. Here’s the story, from Seacoastonline.com: A bill that passed the House last month aims to strengthen the crime of visual…
Readers — We’re getting to the point where ANYTHING having to do with children is so fraught with inflated fears that we are going absolutely crazy. Consider this bill just introduced in the New Jersey state assembly: It would outlaw the photographing or videotaping of kids in situations in which “a reasonable parent or guardian would not expect his child to be the subject of such reproduction.” How’s that for vague? So, suddenly, a kid in the background of your park pictures is taboo if his dad is mad you’re taking a pic? Or maybe you’re breaking the law if…