Author: lskenazy

Hi Readers #151; Here’s a happy holiday gift: Santa sanity from the child-overprotecting world. You may recall last week’s story about the closing of the North Pole Santa effort for fear of pedophiles mailing themselves to unsuspecting tots. (Or whatever the exact, irrational “rationale” was.) Enjoy this well-written post about how it all turned out, from the blog  Strollerderby. #151; Lenore

Hi Readers — A bunch of you have been digging (har har) this story about how much protection our kids get from DIRT. This explains my philosophy of housekeeping! Er…I mean: This explains my philosophy of childrearing.  Anyway, here’s a bit of the article, by Murrray Wardrop,  in The Telegraph. (For some reason this story got more play in Britain than the U.S.): Scientists have discovered that bacteria on the surface of the skin play an important role in combating inflammation when we get hurt. The bugs dampen down overactive immune responses, which can lead to rashes or cause cuts…

This is a very weird story,  but it does prove one thing I’ve been saying for a while: Kids are not snatched willy-nilly from the New York City subways. On the other hand, they’re not noticed for days and days either. Hmmm. — Lenore

If Zits comics aren’t cut out and affixed to your refrigerator yet, it’s only because your kids are still young. Otherwise, you couldn’t resist. That’s why I’m glad a reader sent in this one to stick on the collective Free-Range Kids Fridge. For more Zits, click here!

There’s something to that idea, according to  the Motherlode parenting blog in The New York Times:  Take our cue from The Dog Whisperer and give our kids plenty of affection, discipline and time outside with a bone. Well, time outside, anyway.

At least it is in Canada, where one family’s actual contract with their school — “We the undersigned shall do no homework, nor shall it be assigned” (or words to that effect) is roiling the country. Editorials are jumping in on the anti-homework, pro-play, pro-down-time, pro-music, sports and outdoors side! Right on! Here’s an overview ,  from the great blog, stophomework.com.

I don’t know if this is quite the right expression but: Oy vey! A town in North Carolina has BANNED MRS. CLAUS from its  X-mas parade. Why? To quote the local News Observer: “…John Odom, executive director of the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association, which runs the parade, said it’s confusing for children to see two people in Santa suits. He said it’s a policy that only Santa may wear the official outfit.” That’s right: it is too CONFUSING to kids to see a lady in a red, Santa-like outfit. Which, for the record, is a DRESS. Is the local Mr.…

Hi Readers!  Here are three great — nay, profound — “safety” labels, including: “CAUTION: REDUCTION OF EXPANDED PLAY OPPORTUNITIES.” That one is to be affixed to any high-tech toy that is nowhere near as fun to play with, in the long run, as its box. These labels come courtesy of Make  Magazine, courtesy of one of our heroes, Gever Tulley, who runs the Tinkering School, and did that great video, “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.” (Think that’s enough links?) — Lenore

Hi Readers — This just in. So much for changing the world in one fell swoop. Dear Free-Range Kids: I really enjoyed the article in Time, and decided to have a talk with my 6 year old daughter about independence. She was very inspired and asked if she could ride her scooter around the block by herself. With helmet on, she headed down the sidewalk, where a neighbor stopped her, told her that Stranger Danger was out there and could get her, and said she needed to turn around right away and go home. I fear this movement could take…

Hi Folks! Welcome to Free-Range Kids, where we (mostly) look at new ways to raise safe, self-reliant kids — kids at home in the world, happy outdoors, and even capable of entertaining themselves without the aid of Steve Jobs. We also look at stories in the news that illustrate Free-Range ideas in action — or the opposite. And we examine the disconnect between the fact we live in pretty safe times, but the media keep telling us to be scared from the second we wake up to the second we (try!) to go to sleep. The chapters in my book,…