Hi Readers — This just in! The top elected official in Oregon’s Multnomah County apologized to Julie Murphy, age 7, who was threatened with a fine for running a lemonade stand without a permit. Here’s a breath of fresh air, common sense and just plain summer joy from OregonLive.com: While the county inspectors were doing their job, [the county Chairman Jeff] Cogen said, the rules are meant for professional food service operators. Inspectors need to use professional judgment, he said. “This isn’t something we need to be using our limited resources to crack down on,” he said. What’s more, Cogen…
Author: lskenazy
Oh Readers — What are we going to do with this country? In Portland, Ore, health inspectors shut down a 7-year-old’s lemonade stand at some kind of fair because, “Our role is to protect the public.” From what? Summer? Fun? Kids? The right to DO something, instead of just sitting at home, quietly watching reruns? If any health inspectors are reading this, I say: Come arrest my son, too. He was selling lemonade at a summer community last weekend — or trying to. Then younger, cuter kids saw him and go the bright idea of opening a stand right next…
Hi Readers — Here’s a piece I wrote for ParentDish about the topic of kiddie pix. Adults are getting really paranoid about the idea of children in photos, as if any snapshot or video of a kid is going to be used for scary, nefarious or disgusting purposes. As a reporter and sometime video maker, I can’t stand the fact that in many cases, we’re not even allowed to shoot casual images of kids at play, if their faces are identifiable. That’s why so often on TV you’ll see pictures of kids’ LEGS running around a playground, but not the…
Hi Readers — Here’s a note from today’s mailbox. The lesson? If you can dream up ANY DANGER, no matter HOW RIDICULOUSLY REMOTE, you can try to scare a parent. It’s easy! It’s fun! It’s our new national pastime! — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: I’m currently pregnant with our first child, due in October. I’ve already aligned myself with Free-Range Kids, and I’ve been getting a kick out of how anti-Free-Range the pregnancy and infant industry is. It’s scary. We had our first prenatal class, put on by a nurse at the local health unit. Awesome class. But they had…
Hi Folks — Once again, here are some recent Tweets, providing links to stuff you might enjoy. So enjoy already! — Lenore A mom won’t let her kid drink from spigot at outdoor museum. “I’ll buy u bottled water.” WHY??http://bit.ly/aQ0gTm Amazingly cool, true, short article: The Death of the Phone Call. (It’s intrusive & old fashioned!)http://bit.ly/bcWEuo So a guy (or gal)”s disability scooter breaks down near a group of kids. What happens next? http://bit.ly/bZX2f1 Go back to work & your kids’ll be just fine, a large study shows: http://bit.ly/c5XWNq According to Daily Beast, swings, see-saws & slides are all EXTREMELY…
Hi Readers! I was reading this lovely link one of you sent in, nodding along with the whole gestalt, and then suddenly found myself quoted. Nice feeling! Here’s the beginning of the piece, which appears in SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle’s web site: How Do We Teach Kids Independence in a Fear-Driven World? by Amy Graff My 7-year-old daughter, Paris, spent a week with her grandparents this summer in the tiny coastal town of Gearhart, Ore. If you ask Paris what her favorite thing was about the trip, she won’t tell you the about the root beer floats she and…
Hi Readers — Why was I up till 12:45 last night? I HAD to finish, “Little Brother.” It’s the young adult book by boingboing’s Cory Doctorow that’s all about what would happen after a terrorist attack if the government started suspecting EVERYONE of terrorism, and most of the people were fine with this. Naturally, the hero is a geeky/brave 17-year-old and his posse of smart friends, and the action is non-stop. Naturally, i’ts being made into a movie. UNnaturally, I loved it. Normally, I’m more of a historical fiction kind of gal — think, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” —…
Hi Readers — Here’s a piece I wrote for ParentDish about “Annie’s Mailbox” (which seems to be filled with nuts). The question — or really statement by an Annie reader was — “Don’t put those little decals on your car that say your family members’ names or you will be followed by predators.” To which Annie replied, “That’s paranoid! Is a predator really going to schlep around town, following your car? Don’t forget that MOST child abuse occurs at the hands of someone the child knows.” No, she replied the usual, “Can’t be too careful” and “Just in case” and…
Hi Readers — This seemed like the perfect companion piece to the post below this one, about our intense, almost obsessive focus on predators. Gosh, remember when “predator” was most commonly used to describe, like, a mountain lion or great horned owl? Those were the days! — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: We belong to a very small Methodist church, about 100 people attend every week. Our Sunday School classes are small, maybe 5 to 7 kids in each. The conference came out with a Safe Sanctuary policy to help us address issues of child safety. Now all of our teachers…
Hey Readers — Here’s a comment that came in the other day in response to a woman who is very wary of stranger danger. I liked its logic: Dear Amy (the woman who was consumed with predator fear): I can sort of see where you’re coming from, but take a logical approach. There’s a chance for something bad to happen in cars and buses, which people use on a daily basis. And there’s also something dangerous that could happen with almost everything you do in life. Some we just don’t think about. Others, people are VERY aware of. Like kidnappings.…