Hi Readers! Here’s a note I got from one of you right before “Take Our Children to the Park…And Leave Them There Day,” last Saturday, May 21: Dear Free-Range Kids: We’re doing it as a communal group, with about 9 kids thus far from my various friends. We’re even letting them ride their bikes over instead of driving them. Our plan for the day is to go shoot paintball. (Why should the kids be the only ones to have fun with their counterparts about?) I think parents need some non-parental time in their lives, which is becoming less and less…
Author: lskenazy
Dear Readers: Here is an article from the New York Times that says what I keep trying to say: Crime is down. Not up. Not even sideways. Down. How far down? Major crime — murder, rape, robbery, assault — is at “the lowest rate in nearly 40 years,” sez the paper of record. In fact, America is enjoying a crime plunge so striking, the experts can’t even figure out WHY it is happening. But it is. So when folks say that they’d really LIKE to let their kids play on the lawn, or bounce a ball on the driveway, or…
Hi Readers! Here’s a recent letter that makes me hot under the collar (but not hot enough to turn on the A.C.). — L. (who can’t figure out how to get rid of this LINE!!) Dear Free-Range Kids: Well, I did it again: I sent my 4.5-year-old inside the library to walk the 20 feet to the elevator and make it to the children’s floor without me… and, like the last few times, I was twenty seconds behind him. But this time I was accosted by the librarian at the check out desk: “Was that YOUR little boy?! He MUST…
Hi Readers! Here’s a note from a doctor, Par Donahue. He’s author of the book and blog, Messengers in Denim, all about the things we can learn from teens (and life). Here’s one lesson he got from kids that he did not like. (Nor I.) — L Dear Free-Range Kids: I am a retired pediatrician who walks my dog twice daily in our neighborhood and enjoys talking to kids — after all, that’s what I did for almost 40 years. But, now I feel like bogeyman. When kids are outside, they see me coming and run into the house. If…
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…
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…