The following note was passed along to us by a dad whose kids attend a public school in Texas. It says: Parents we need your help in keeping our children safe at the playground after hours and on the weekends. It is important that children are supervised at all times. We have had reports of children climbing on the outside of the play equipment which is really unsafe. Some children are trying to sit on top of the big slide. This is completely unacceptable behavior. We are reminding our children again today the same playground expectations apply in the afternoon,…
Author: lskenazy
School’s out on April 8 for many kids in the U.S. and Canada. On that date, a full solar eclipse will be visible from Texas to Ontario, and “There are risks associated with viewing a solar eclipse,” several Toronto-area school boards announced. Those schools moved their May 17 kid-free professional development day to April 8 “to ensure that students will not be outdoors during the total solar eclipse.” How prudent! That way their kids are protected from accidentally getting interested in science! “I am baffled, dismayed, and hugely disappointed by this decision,” a Toronto area school administer wrote us to…
Kids need to climb trees, jump off things, and ride their bikes fast. That’s what the Canadian Paediatric Society is recommending in a white paper published on Thursday: “Healthy Childhood Development Through Outdoor Risky Play.” If that sounds positively radical — and also common sensical — you’re right. Mariana Brussoni, a developmental psychologist at the University of British Columbia, has been championing risky play for more than a decade. But the Paediatric Society was never quite ready to endorse her call to action. It was only when faced with soaring rates of childhood anxiety, depression, obesity, and even myopia that…
Here’s a little excerpt from the interview Katie Kimball, host of the Healthy Parenting Handbook Podcast, did with me. The full podcast is here. Katie Kimball: No matter what the parents do individually with the decisions we’re making, there is a toxic culture that could be holding us back. We talk a lot with food about the root cause: What’s the root cause of our kids’ behaviors, of possible food sensitivities? Let’s apply that to parenting. What do you diagnose as the “root cause” of this culture? Lenore Skenazy: One is really obvious. You have to blame the media. The…
Kids running around and playing outside till the streetlights came on. That was Charles Brewer’s childhood — and dream. To make it happen in modern-day America, he developed Glenwood Park in Atlanta, a neighborhood that hewed to the tenets of “New Urbanism.” That mean it had, “town houses, offices, retail, walkable streets, a nice town square, and a park,” Brewer said. This would be enough, he hoped, to get kids outside to frolic like it’s 1979. But frolic that way they did not. An itch that still needed scratching. “I’m still proud of it,” Brewer says of his development. “But…
Did you know that January is Mental Wellness Awareness Month! Woo hoo! How can you celebrate? Get mentally well! That can be a challenge, especially in an era that can seem hellbent on creating new things to worry about. So here’s something that may help. Let Grow President Lenore Skenazy sat down with Tampa talk show host Maggie Rodriguez for a chat about the second edition of Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow. Here’s a bit of that conversation that can help parents put fear in perspective: Maggie Rodriguez: Why do you think so many of us parents…
Folks — I can’t tell if I’m overly trusting or if the world is the opposite, so please weigh in: The story is that a man, 64, shopping with his wife at a Florida Walmart, grabbed a 4-year-old’s wrist and attempted to kidnap him. Here’s the video: The man supposedly told the child, “Let’s go.” . The sheriff is quoted as saying: “I never want anyone in Lee County to feel unsafe, especially going on a simple shopping trip. My team will stop at NOTHING to ensure criminals like this face the consequences of their actions.” . My real question(s):…
Roll your eyes, shake your head, scream “That stinks!” and go to bed. Or, if you prefer, read on: NON-EXISTENT DANGER IN AISLE 3 A University of Michigan survey of parents of children age 9-11 found that half will not let their kids go to another aisle at the store to get a few items. Too dangerous! ALL YIKES, ALL THE TIME “Gen Z perceives more dangers in life than previous generations,” according to a study presented at the 2023 Society for Risk Analysis conference. Gee, I wonder why young people think everything is dangerous. MOM AND POP AND POTTY…
This seasonal post comes from Kobi Nelson, a high school teacher in Denver with a Ph.D. in Education. Kobi enjoys life with her husband, two kids, and cat named Bear. Uncertainty and Growth in “The Story of Holly and Ivy” The first time I encountered The Story of Holly and Ivy was when my Great-Aunt gave me the book in the 1980s. Six-year-old-me was enamored with the story. My dad read it to me every Christmas. When I became a parent, I wanted to continue this tradition. However, reading this to my son and daughter was like reading science fiction to someone who only…
And you probably guessed what that thing is: INDEPENDENCE! Kids need more of it! It’s an anxiety buster! Regine Galanti, PhD is a clinical psychologist and founder of Long Island Behavioral Psychology, a private practice in Nassau County. She’s also the author of many books on anxiety, most recently, Parenting Anxious Kids: Understanding Child Anxiety by Age and Stage (available for pre-order!). She lives on Long Island with her husband and three daughters, who mostly put up with being pushed to do hard things. Instagram: @regine.galanti , TikTok: @dr.galanti Why Kids Need a Gentle Push Outside Their Comfort Zone, by Regine…