Hi Readers — This essay is long, but so powerful it blew me away. As we near May 22′s ”Take Our Children to the Park…and Leave Them There Day,” the author’s question is extremely relevant: What happens when WE believe our kids will be safe, but the authorities do not? Read on. And prepare for […]
Author: lskenazy
Hey Readers — Sometimes it doesn’t take a Supreme Court ruling to get a scared, silly rule reversed. Sometimes it just takes a little spine. Here’s the story of the mom who wanted to let her son ride his bike to school and at first (and second) the school said no. But then — victory! And while I’m here, giving some links, here’s a funny one about the dangers of baking bread. And, heck, it is exactly ONE WEEK from Mother’s Day. Know a mom would would appreciate a book that is LOL funny AND helps folks relax AND raise…
Hey Readers — Sometimes it doesn’t take a Supreme Court ruling to get a scared, silly rule reversed. Sometimes it just takes a little spine. Here’s the story of the mom who wanted to let her son ride his bike to school and at first (and second) the school said no. But then — victory! […]
Hi Readers: Just in case you were wondering what America may to start look like, in terms of helicoptering, check out this story from ahead-of-the-craziness-curve England. It notes: The survey of 6,099 people commissioned by LV= Streetwise, a charity that educates children about safety, revealed that nearly a quarter of children aged 15 or under were not allowed to sleep at a friend’s house, 60 percent were forbidden to travel on public transport alone and 43 percent can’t go to the park without a parent or guardian. It said more than 60 percent of mums and dads think the world…
Hi Readers! I’m dashing off to give a talk tonight (Thurs.) at the Ethel Walker school in Simsbury, Conn. (outside of Hartford). It’s free and open to the public, if you’re in the nabe. Meantime, let’s help this California mom! Any advice? Support? Great ideas? — Lenore Dear Free-Range Kids: I recently lost my car and decided that bicycles will be mine and my son’s primary mode of transportation until I can afford to replace the car. The boy is 8 and I ride with him half-way, some days all the way, to school in the mornings. His first day…
Hi Readers — This story was just sent to me and I am stunned and going out of my mind. A 34-year-old Nevada woman who was convicted of making a 13-year-old boy touch her breasts — I agree, gross and totally wrong — was sentenced to MANDATORY LIFE IN PRISON. She will be eligible for parole in 10 years. As her public defender said: “She is getting a greater penalty for having a boy touch her breast than if she killed him.” No one — Free-Range or not — is in favor of adults molesting minors. But the idea that…
Hi Folks — Here’s a link to a nice Free-Range story on the front page of today’s Arizona Daily Star, in Tucson. (Where I had my first newspaper internship many moons — and suns, and probably a comet — ago.) What’s nice is so many of the comments are positive! — L.
Hi Readers! I know — some folks out there probably think this is how we Free-Rangers spend our weekends. But it ain’t. Watch and cringe:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S8cNrIR5ac]
If so, TV is calling!If you might be interested in seeing your child on network TV, drop a line to Gwen.Gowen@abc.com . She’s doing a piece on — obviously — letting kids walk to school and needs some “real world” examples. Thanks! — L.
Hi Folks! I was reading this blog post about product-recall-mania today and nodded along with so much of it, I asked the writer, Julie Colwell, if I could post it and she said sure. So here it is, slightly edited: Micromanaging Moms 101, by Julie Colwell, from her blog, “The Mother Load.” So, in my inbox today, I got an email that was a collection of all the baby and child recalls this year. At first I thought it was a joke since there were literally millions of recalls. Apparently absolutely everything you’ve ever bought is dangerous, including sweatshirts (your…