Hi Readers! Here’s a new development on the what-can-we-worry-about-next front. It’s from Kelso, Washington, a town of about 12,000: A proposal by the Kelso School Board aims to create a more professional relationship between teachers and their students. The proposal makes it a fireable offense to show students pornography, harass or touch students inappropriately, or to smoke or drink alcohol with students. Along with those common sense rules, teachers will not be able to talk about their family or personal lives in the classroom. [ITALS MINE] That’s right — lumped right in their with porn and pawing is the offense…
Author: lskenazy
Readers: This “service” piece on NBC Over-Reaction News — sorry, NBC Action News — tells us that because there is a GPS locator embedded in the pix we take on our cell phones, “the bad guys” can NOW SEE where our children live, where they “recreate” (such a police verb — it means play), and where they “go to school.” It can even “locate their bedrooms!” Which means that if you are a predator who could not possibly OTHERWISE ever figure out where there is a park, or a school, or a house with a trike in the front yard,…
Hi Readers! Here’s my piece from today’s Wall Street Journal: PARENTS ARE TAKING THE FUN OUT OF TOYS by Lenore Skenazy Remember when a ball was just a ball? Now it is a tactile stimulating sensory aid that helps develop gross motor skills. Really. Strolling through the international Toy Fair at the Javits Center in New York City last week was like walking through the brightly painted halls of a children’s hospital—at once cheery and sad. Cheery were the shiny bikes and busy ant farms. Sad was the way the marketers made it sound like they were peddling early intervention…
Arrrrroooooo! Readers — This proposed law makes me want to lift a hind leg somewhere in Manassas, Va: City leaders want to make it a requirement that only responsible adults be the ones walking their dogs. “At the other end of the leash, there must be an individual who is competent to control the animal,” Manassas Councilmember John Way told NBC Washington’s Craig Melvin. Way admits this has not been a widespread problem, however one woman recently reported having to jump on the top of a car to escape two stray pit bulls. Way also ran into a similar…
Hi Readers! And now for something completely different: Television! I am about to start filming a reality TV show dedicated to the wild idea that our kids are at LEAST as smart and safe as we were — so why don’t we stop treating them like hand-blown swizzle sticks? Yes. For real! This is a TV show that is going to try to turn the tide. The show will feature yours truly going to the homes of parents who are OPEN to the idea of loosening the reins a little (or at least one bnibneshsd of the spouses is), but…
Dear Readers: This is from a comment on the Afghanistan post — the post where we learned that while American schools worry that Valentine’s Day could emotionally scar the children, and 15-year-olds waiting outside for a ride could be in danger, 12-year-olds in other parts of the world are the heads of households: Dear Free-Range Kids: On a personal (Free-Range) note, at the school where I teach I was informed that we now have to get written/signed parental permission for our classes (Elementary schoolers age 5-11) to walk across a one-lane road WITH FOUR TEACHERS to a park/playground that is…
Hi Readers. Yup. The one we discussed a couple posts ago has been dismantled. Here’s the story. It was too dangerous, the local council deemed. Personally, I liked one commenter’s idea that the folks who voted against it should have been required to spend an afternoon in it first. But I guess that didn’t happen. Sigh. –L.
Hi Readers! This came in as a comment this morning, and if it doesn’t lend a little perspective, nothing will. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I am currently deployed to Afghanistan on my third tour, and I am part of the new female engagement teams. These teams consist of medical, security and intelligence specialist. We go directly into villages, unaccompanied by male troops, and meet face to face with the women and children of the villages. We provide medical care, work with the women to build skills so that they can help support their families, and listen to the concerns…
Hi Readers — Our darling children, who, we’re told, can’t handle recess in the cold (see this), or waiting outside the high school to be picked up (see this), or babysitting, even at age 14 (see this), and who can’t possibly handle sleepovers (see this) or bugs ( see this) or bible stories (see this), are now being told they can’t handle Valentine’s Day, either. A Maryland grammar school sent a letter to parents explaining its philosophy, which was reported in the local Frederick News Post: Romance between students has no place in the elementary school classroom, [Principal Stephanie] Brown…
Hi Readers — A quickie note from the front lines of insanity. L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I just had to shoot you a quick email in order to vent my frustration. My son stayed after school today to re-take a test. I told him to call when he was done and his dad would pick him up. So he called, and I told him to wait outside. He said, “I’m in the library.” I said, “Wait outside so your dad won’t have to look for you.” His response? “They won’t let me.” I should tell you that this…