UPDATE: Zach’s hearing, scheduled for Weds., Oct. 18, has been postponed until further notice. Zach Anderson, the young man from Elkart, IN, whose harsh punishment for consensual teen sex made headlines around the country in 2015, has been arrested for two violations of probation. What, exactly, did he do? He had dinner at his parents’ home with his younger brother, 17, and the brother’s friend. The brother thought his friend was 19, but he turned out to be 17. Zach is not allowed to have contact with anyone under 18 except his siblings. That’s Violation #1. Then, at church, Zach…
Author: lskenazy
An extremely insightful and rather frightening op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times looks at why Millennials are “so wary of freedom.” It’s by Clay Routledge, a professor of psychology at North Dakota State University, and it cites stats about how the younger generation is less convinced that democracy or free speech are good ideas. This crosses party affiliations, so it’s not like only conservatives care about liberty (which would be depressing in its own right). The logical question then becomes: What unites so many young Americans in these attitudes? I propose that the answer is fear — the ultimate enemy…
Down in Brisbane, Australia, they apparently have changing rooms where parents — not just moms — can change their kids’ diapers. But one mom saw a dad in the room and screamed bloody murder. Reports the Brisbane Times: An embarrassed father left a shopping centre parents’ room with his naked son in his arms after a woman declared the room was “only for mothers” and told him to “get out you sicko”, according to a second mother who witnessed the exchange. Tamika Ives said she came to the man’s defence, bringing him back to the change room where he had…
It can be painful to think about the freedom we had — the bike riding, the kicking around, the going to get candy — that many of our kids don’t. Here’s one story of how to get it back. Dear Free-Range Kids: Here in Toronto, I started a group called the Toronto Free Play Co-op. The point was to find other people in the neighbourhood who are on the same page as far as being free range and valuing free play. It’s worked quite well — there is power in numbers, and in having these conversations. We started last summer…
When the telegraph was first invented, it was so strange and new, people worried it would disrupt the world’s weather patterns. And as I learned at a dinner last night with (name drop!) Nadine Strossen, former head of the ACLU, when the internet was in its infancy, the government demanded grand censorship powers, to protect the potential porn hub (as it were) from corrupting children. But The Supreme Court ruled in favor of free speech, thus allowing the web to flourish. All of which is to say, fearing that new technology is going to unleash hell on earth and…
In Chester County, PA, kids will no longer get the chance to scramble for candy tossed from floats at the annual Halloween parade because suddenly the local tradition is too dangerous. According to The Daily Local News, Parks & Rec director Keith Kurowski “was fearful that one of about 25 parade floats might injure an unattended child, or a marching band member with a flag or mock rifle might mistakenly strike a youngster.” Yes, those marching bands are vicious. You see a majorette with a flag? Run! There’s nothing they like better than to “mistakenly” (wink wink) strike a youngster.…
Many, many of you have sent me this interesting piece: Thoughts on Vegas and Why Men Keep Doing This, by Charles Hoehn, author of Play It Away. (Free book here!) It ran on the blog Be Yourself. In trying to parse why Stephen Paddock and a few other men have unleashed massacres (something, thankfully, most men do NOT “keep doing”), Hoehn rolled around some ideas, including that the lack of play can lead to deep depression and pathology. I, too, believe the drive to play is installed at birth by Mother Nature, for a reason: To teach us, in a…
I iassrntati am in Boston giving some talks, and once again, some parents tell me that one reason they’re not sending their kids outside is the fear that some busybody will call 911. That is why we must make it not only normal, but blazingly, officially LEGAL to give our kids some independence, a point the Texas Policy Institute’s Brandon Logan and I make in this piece of ours that appeared in the Austin-American Statesman. Commentary: Giving kids an old-fashioned childhood is not abuse By Brandon Logan and Lenore Skenazy — Special to the American-Statesman A few years back,…
One more time: Most humans saying hello to a child in public are not doing anything evil. Those who report them to the police, on the other hand… Dear Free-Range Kids: I thought you would be interested in this Facebook post to one of my groups today. It was the Blue Mountains Community Social Group, over here in Australia. The person who posted it reported that she saw it pasted up in a local shopping centre. We’re a fairly small, regional community, about 100km from Sydney. I’m happy to say that of the 93 comments (so far) and 227 reactions,…
The ’80s live! At least in Selinsgrove, PA, according to this music video. And who does it star? Thirteen-year-old Isabel Lysiak, sister of our favorite pint-sized publishing magnate, Hilde Lysiak, the girl condemned as too cute to cover a murder in her town. Here’s the video and below is Hilde’s exclusive story about it. This comes straight from the Orange Street News: EXCLUSIVE: Music Video “Dream of the 80’s is Alive in Selinsgrove” Debuts By Hilde Kate Lysiak A new music video claims that the town of Selinsgrove is stuck in the 80’s — in a good way! Thirteen year…