Hi Readers! I read this piece and it blew me away. It’s by David Hess, a minister outside of Rochester, New York. Kudos to him — and a thanks, too, for letting me reprint the whole thing! THE NEW URBAN MYTH: THE DANGER OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS AT HALLOWEEN by David Hess It’s almost time for the annual Halloween sex offender hysteria. This seemingly has replaced the urban myths about poison candy and razor blades in apples. I was interested to find that there has actually been a recent empirical study of the issue. An article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch,…
Author: lskenazy
Hi Readers! First of all, a thanks to all the people who have commented. It was a good reminder to me — as was part of the speech in the original post (“I suppose there are some things I would change, like make the BSA image more inclusive…”) — that the sad fact is that there is an official policy against gay and/or atheist leadership at the Boy Scouts. I hate that. And if I’d thought about that part more the first time my son went with a friend to a meeting, maybe I would have said, “Don’t go.” But…
Hi Readers! At the conference on the importance of play that I went to last week, I met Cindy Wilson, the communications director at Playworks. Playworks helps ensure kids get the chance to play at school every day. Yay! Their “recess coaches” taught some unbelievably fun games at the conference that had me — who literally got a “D” in gym — running around and laughing and not feeling like the girl who could never touch her toes. (Which I am. But still. Here’s where you can find how to play a lot of their games.) Anyhow, Cindy’s husband is…
Hi Readers! The answer is, apparently: None! It is too dangerous! At least, that’s what the Department of Health and Safety says, according to this article. The issue surfaced during a Senate estimates hearing when Liberal Eric Abetz told upper house colleagues he was prevented recently from changing a light bulb in his electorate office. He was told that the rules meant an electrician had to be called. “It is just impractical, it’s stupid,” Senator Abetz told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. “Most Australians would say if a person is not capable of changing a light globe, chances are they…
Hi Readers! Here’s a nice little life snippet from David Broadbent, a father of three girls in Perth, Western Australia. He’s too busy recording his kids conversations to blog, but he has put 389 of those conversations into a book www.extrafingers.net.au. Enjoy! — L. SIGNS, SIGNS EVERYWHERE by David Broadbent Isabella, after we’d made it to the West End on Rottnest Island in Western Australia about two weeks ago and had had a bit of a look around: “Dad, why are there so many signs?” Dad: “They’re warnings, Issy.” Isabella: “Warnings? About what?” Dad: “About all the things that can…
Readers: I’m thrilled — see why, below! Kudos to the creator of these wonderful “Mom-Petitor” videos, Valerie Stone Hawthorne, a mom of twins in Texas — and, oh yeah, a PhD in cancer biology and cell biology. What a lightweight! Her blog is Mompetition and here’s a profile of her in Time. And here’s me! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZO91sNTz1o]
Hi Readers! Here’s a note from Amy Uzinger, a mom in Tucson. Dear Free-Range Kids: Today I got my 1st grade son’s school pictures in. Along with the pictures, is a ‘Operation Child I.D.’ form. It has my child’s picture and there is a spot on the form to take to the police station to have your child’s fingerprints taken. Then you are supposed to keep this form handy, just in case your child is kidnapped. It disturbs me that thousands of parents will receive this form and it reinforces the belief that children are in constant…
That’s what scared folks ask all the time, believing that predators have a lot more patience than the rest of us and are willing to look through ALL those family photos, just to glimpse your adorable child and plan a trip across several state lines to kidnap him/her. Next time you hear all that, remind them of this story. As Free range reader Michael in California points out: “Thanks to Facebook, a child is alive: Win. The mother has a live child, not a dead one: Win. The friend who noticed the problem knows she saved…
Readers — I just read this story and am sick to my heart. A dad brought his 5 year old son to the park then crossed the street to talk to some friends. The boy ran after him. He got struck by a car and died. Now the father is in jail and the charge has just been upgraded from “felony cruelty to children, reckless conduct and simple battery” to involuntary manslaughter. I cannot imagine how that father would feel even if he weren’t in jail. It’s boggling. This is a tragedy pure and simple. But the issues are not…
Hi Readers! After I laughed out loud three times — sorry, “LOL’d” — I had to share this:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0VOVuxiahk]