Hi Folks! Here’s a question about bathroom break protocol at a Sunday School. Weigh in! — L Dear Free-Range Kids: What got me interested in this movement is a conversation I had at church just over a week ago. I’m my church’s Health and Safety Officer, but we also have a Child Protection Officer who is also Churchwarden. She approached me just before the service and asked my opinion on what age a child should be allowed to go to the toilet unaccompanied. I should explain the toilet is in a room adjoining the church which connects with the…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers! Over at another blog I was just reading about a 4-year-old and his kitchen knife skills. They were good for his age, as evidenced by the video, but it’s not like he’s Julia Child. So I’m wondering: What age can we start teaching kids to use knives? And does anyone have any info about the “olden” days? Like — what age did kids used to start whittling? Going a little further back, at what age did kids start using stone tools? And if anyone knows what is going on in other countries, please tell: Do kids in other…
Readers — This krahabyahh story makes The Onion look like The Economist. But, in fact, it is straight from The Telegraph, in jolly old (off-its-rocker) England: Children have been banned from wearing goggles during school swimming lessons for fears they could hurt themselves. Pen-pushers have slapped the ban on the swimming aids amid “fears” a pair could “snap” onto a child’s face too hard, injuring them. I stop here because I am at a loss for anything else to say, except… No, I actually have nothing to say. I suppose rubber bands are next. — Lenore
Hi Readers! This gem of an essay was found on page 4 of a newsletter from the Brookwood Elementary in Leawood, KS. Kudos to the anonymous author! — L. Are You Stealing from Your Children? by Anonymous I watched the other day as a parent came into the building with her (very capable) child. As the child stood idly by, mom carefully put everything in his locker neatly, reminding him that he had his lunch on top there, easily retrievable, and hanging up his coat for him as well. The child, looking bored, leaned up against the lockers as his…
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…
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…