Hi Readers — Got this note and had to vent. I am SO SICK of everyone thinking of everything in terms of perversion. It is a perverted way to think!! Here goes. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: This isn’t strictly a Free-Range issue perhaps, but it illustrates the nonsensical trend of treating inappropriate but harmless behavior with fear and suspicion. The following is a quote from the training module that every parent who wishes to volunteer at our school must endure, even simply to serve cupcakes to a class. The policy of requiring training and background checks on all…
Author: lskenazy
To be filed under: Coming To, What the World Is:
Hi Readers — Those clever folks at KaBoom, the playground people, have created a “virtual funeral” for the swingsets of West Virginia’s Cabell County. The sets died an unnatural death, after a painful lawsuit brought by the parents of a boy who broke his arm jumping off a swing. In a response worthy of Greek tragedy, the county responded by murdering all its swings. They will be missed. — L. Pictured here: A child in hideous danger.
Hi Readers — I’m sorry to say, this is happening in MY town, New York City: Seven chess players have to appear in court for playing the game of kings on the stone chess tables close to a playground — a playground where adults are forbidden unless they are accompanied by a child. Because, of course, any human anywhere NEAR a child who isn’t personally taking care of one MUST be a monstrosity. Except these particular monstrosities quietly play chess together. Have for years. They even teach the local kids how to play. Terrifying! Oh wise authorities: What makes a…
Hey Readers: Here’s an odd story of a Texas mom who took her 2-year-old son fishing, early in the morn, with her boyfriend. The mom decided it was too cold, and put the boy back in the car while she went to retrieve the gear. In that window of time, a guy came, stole the car, drove off with it, ran a red light and turned around — after realizing there was a kid in the back seat! The mom yelled at him. He yelled at the mom: “Why’d you leave a kid in there?” He fled, cops came and…
Or really, just public bathroom stories. That’s what I’m looking for, readers. As I start pondering the idea of writing another book (and, more to the point, FILLING it), I’m going to be asking for anecdotes from the real world, from YOU. And what I need first, believe it or not, is bathroom lore! Specifically: Can you tell me about the time you let your kid use a public bathroom WITHOUT you? Was it a big deal? A small one? Scary? Surprising? Wonderful? (Or at least as wonderful as something like that can be?) What age? Moreover: Kid reaction? Onlooker…
Hi Readers — Here’s another plea from a Free-Ranger trapped in a helicoptering vise. Do you have any suggestions that have worked at your school? Please share them! — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Something terrible has happened at our school. I wrote to you a while ago about how wonderfully free our village kids are. Things are changing….. and not for the better. My children are 7 and 9. I live 1 mile from school, and our route takes us through a nature reserve, so no traffic and no road crossings necessary. I have been taking baby steps…
Dear Readers: Yup, I’m envious, of this mom, her kid, her country: Dear Free-Range Kids: I don’t know what to say really. I’ve just found your blog and I’m astonished with the stories I’ve read. They’d be a lot of fun — if they were not so scary. My point of view is a bit different as I live in Northern Europe where we have not yet realized how dangerous the world really is. I’ve raised a Free-Range Kid without having heard anything about the concept. I guess that’s how we roll, up here in the North. My…
Hi Readers! Have a great weekend! — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I just wanted to share with you a small but happy Free-Range story that probably wouldn’t have come about if your site hadn’t given me the courage to articulate the reasons why my children should be allowed to do strange things like walk to school alone. Every morning I stand out on the footpath to wave goodbye to my 7-year-0ld and 5-year-old as they head off to school on their own. They now no longer want me to wait until I can no longer see them, and I don’t…
Readers — This is a non-story about a mom who got her baby’s stroller onto the D.C. metro but then the doors closed before she could get on. Ritual infant sacrifice time? Surprisingly, no. Instead, the strangers gathered round the (sleeping) baby, alerted the authorities and got the stroller off at the next stop, where yet more people protected the tyke. All of which prompted one bystander to say that she felt terrible for the mom because this was, clearly, “the worst place in the world to lose a baby.” Worst? Where a crowd of people took care of the…