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
Author: lskenazy
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…
Hi Readers! Just yesterday I was being interviewed by a reporter who admitted she had let her kids, ages 5 and 2, wait in the car while she ran into UPS to drop off a package. This took all of a minute or two, but when she told her husband about it, he said, “That was so dangerous! Promise me you’ll never do that again!” . Why was it “so dangerous”? Answer: It wasn’t. It was only dangerous if some very strange, unpredictable thing happened, like a predator passing by UPS at just that instant who was eagle-eyed, lightening quick,…
Hi Readers! Stan Cox, author of the new book, “Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer),” wrote a great oped for The Washington Post last summer about what life would be like if we still sweltered. As a person who is always freezing, I LOVE the idea of an un-airconditioned world, not just because it would allow me to peel off several (dozen) cardigans, but also because I believe in what Cox preaches: That when we HAVE to go outside for relief, we gain a lot more than a…
Hi Readers! It is time for our second annual Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day: Saturday, May 21! Last year this was an idea derided by the media right and left. “A predator’s picnic,” is how one radio station described it. “Bizarre!” exclaimed the front page of The New York Daily News, which went on to lambaste it. And when TV was talking about the day, most stations automatically showed footage of 3-year-olds in the park, as if that’s what the day was about: Leaving toddlers to fend for themselves. In fact, the day is all…