Hi Readers! Weirdly, this advice on friendliness comes from…Los Angeles.Yes, THAT Los Angeles. And in fact it was written by Amy Alkon, a.k.a., the Advice Goddess, who happens to have written an entire book on rudeness.. It’s even called “I See Rude People.” But apparently Amy also sees nice people, and if she can, by golly, so can we. This piece appeared in The L.A. Times. RUDE AWAKENING LOS ANGELES IS A STRANGEROPOLIS. BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO STAY THAT WAY by AMY ALKON Snapshot from Los Angeles, the place Travel + Leisure readers deemed the rudest city in America:…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers! I’m hoping this California high school freshman gets to keep his tire swing swinging…but we shall see. You know why. — Lenore
Hi Readers: It’s weird, isn’t it, how something as remote as litigation ends up changing REAL, daily life? But it does. This note is just a great example of what happens when we see everything in terms of a court case down the road. — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: I live in the suburbs of DC — Frederick, MD to be exact, a lovely community that is rich in history. We have a fantastic “downtown” area that hosts lots of community and cultural arts events on a regular basis. Anyhooo, last Friday was their yearly “Fire & Ice” display. The…
Hi Readers — This comment, inspired by the previous post, gets to the heart of the matter for me: Connecting. Free-Range Kids is about giving kids freedom, of course, but delve a little deeper and it is about trust: Trusting our kids, our neighbors, ourselves. And the more we trust and connect, the more safe and powerful we are. The more we distrust and disconnect, the more we look to the fear-mongering marketplace or draconian laws or plain old demagogues to protect us. Personally, I prefer connecting. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I love delving into the sociology of our…
Hi Readers — Just as we were rejoicing about sanity across the sea (see below, regarding Britain’s re-evaluation of its excessive background checks), comes this story, from The Express: A MOTHER who left her son of 14 to mind his three-year-old brother while she went to the shops was given a police caution for “cruelty” and was suspended from work. …Although there was no “incident” and they were not believed to be in danger, the mother was cautioned by officers for “committing an act of cruelty on a child or young person.” You want cruelty? How about the cruelty of…
Hi Readers! This story is almost too exciting in its implications. England had been requiring background checks for anyone who had any contact with kids once week. (And the original proposal over there would have covered folks having any contact with kids once a MONTH. Sheesh!) The assumption, of course, was that predators are everywhere. Also, that predators all come with a rap sheet clearly labeled, “PREDATOR” and thus could be easily weeded out. The result? Any mom or dad who wanted to volunteer at school, or help out at Scouts, couldn’t do that unless they underwent “vetting.” But over…
Hi Readers — As a gal who is ALWAYS shivering, and wears a million layers, and did not particularly love recess back in my Chicago youth — but who has come to wholeheartedly endorse outdoor time now — I feel bad for the kids in this county: Dear Free-Range Kids: Question for you about outdoor/indoor recess policies. I live in Montgomery County, Maryland, where it is rarely below 25 degrees by the middle of the day. And yet, there are many days when the elementary school kids have “indoor recess” (which means that they sit in their classrooms). A friend…
Hi Readers — Onto more toothsome matters tomorrow. But in the meantime, for your tearing-your-hair-out pleasure, we bring you this story of Zero Tolerance. What I love about it is the genius reasoning on the part of the principal, Candice Reese: “It’s not too harsh of a punishment and we want to make sure all of our students are safe,” Reese said. Because…they weren’t safe with a 6-year-old with a Nerf gun at recess? — L
Hi Readers: While we’re on the subject of whitewashing the classics for kids’ delicate sensibilities, here’s the one that takes the cake: Dear Free-Range Kids: My kids have a children’s bible which says “and Jesus went away.” Kind of destroys one of the central tenets of Christianity. Yikes! For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son a long vacation? “Judas! What is this ticket to Bermuda for?” The possibilities are pretty endless. — L. P.S. Hi folks! Can we practice a little “turning the other cheek” right here and be kind to each other in…
Ah, can I get a job at The Onion? I want to be on this panel![youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJdP1zK15bE]