Hi folks! Just a reader’s follow-up note to the post below this one on mandatory fingerprinting for Little League volunteers: Dear Free-Range Kids: The school district where we live is requiring that all parent volunteers be fingerprinted starting next year. If you want to help in the classroom at all (which the teachers heavily rely on), you have to pay and be fingerprinted. Same applies for field trip chaperones or moms and dads wanting to go to the Valentine Party for 15 minutes. My husband takes work off annually to do a presentation at school for kids…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers! What kind of society are we going to have when anytime anyone volunteers to do anything with kids, we treat them as pedophiles until officially proven otherwise? Probably the kind of society they have now in Tenafly, N.J., where Little League is requiring all adults who work with the team — from coaches to t-shirt vendors — to get fingerprinted. According to this article from NorthJersey.com: “It’s time to make sure everybody’s covered and we know the children are safe,” said Recreation Department Secretary Lisa Sherman said. “It’s something that a lot of towns in the area started…
Click here. It’ll take you to the photo at KaBOOM, with the headline: Would You Want to Play Here? Answer: I don’t even think it’s allowed! — L
Hi Readers! Here’s the passing of a man AND an era. Sent in by a reader named Kelley. (And sorry about the light type. The computer did that and I can’t change it back!) – L . Dear Free-Range Kids: I usually don’t usually read the obituaries, but occasionally one will catch my eye & I will read it. This morning, I happened to read this one, about an 84-yr old man who passed away, and this part really caught my attention: . “As a young boy, his passion was for camping and fishing…. He loved to share the story…
Hi Readers: Just got this note tonight. Thought I’d share it. The writer must have recently stumbled on “Why I Let My 9-year-old Ride the Subway Alone.” — L. [To Lenore]: In my opinion you are a horrible mother. You knowingly put your child in harms way. Yes its true, chances are its not going to happen but why give it the chance to happen. It is your job to protect your child until he/she is old enough to protect themselves. At nine yrs. old he is not going to be able to defend himself and I can’t believe that…
…with me. Here’s a podcast on chipper Naptime Radio: http://bit.ly/fALUWY And here’s a quickie 4-question print interview with the pro-recess Let Children Play blog, about the upcoming reality TV show: http://bit.ly/eaDK0w Enjoy your weekend! L.
Hi Readers — Just be glad you don’t live in the Persimmon Place subdivision in Edgewater, Fla. The Homeowners Association (HOA) there is considering new rules that will ban children from playing outside. I KNOW this sounds like a fantasy plot from one of the umpteen dystopian young adult novels out there, so let me quote from this report on ClickOrlando.com: The HOA board said the proposed rule, which will carry a $100 fine for every violation, is all about safety. … The proposal states that “minor children will be under the direct control of a responsible adult at all…
Hi Readers! This is a heartening, even inspiring letter! Read on! — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I love my kids and I am overprotective, still, but I agree with giving your kids lots of freedom. I was able to go play with my friends whenever I wanted as long as I can remember. In kindergarten all I had to do was let my grandparents (who were watching me) know where I was going to be and I left. Of course, grandma sometimes said “no,” but mostly in my own world of alotted back yards, I could do…
Hi Readers! Oh great — more unmitigated fear, and unintended consequences. L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: I recently received an email from my daughter’s middle school that included this gem: High school students are not allowed on C. Middle School property. They are trespassing and will be charged by the police. Please do not send your high school student on CMS property to “pick up” a younger brother or sister. They will be charged with trespassing. I am frankly horrified. This school is both a magnet school (drawing students from the entire county) and a receiving school for students who…
Hi Readers: There is so much to ponder in this amazing column from the Herald-Mail in Maryland titled, “When It Comes to Protecting Kids, We Have It All Backward.” Yes, it was inspired by the new American Academy of Pediatrics’ recent dictum that children should be kept in rear-facing car seats until age 2. Personally, I don’t get how that even works. Do we cut off their legs? (This would also prevent them from running in the street. Win/win!) But the columnist, Tim Rowland, takes the idea a step farther with these thoughts: Today, being a child is like being…