HEY! I forgot to add the video I made a few years ago about a cartwheel ban. Enjoy! . Yes, a school in Canada banned cartwheels. What’s worst about this is the school’s reasoning: Cartwheels have been banned at M.T. Davidson Public School in Callander. Cartwheels are not permitted on school property in the playground rules section of the school’s draft handbook for 2017-18. The rule came into effect this school year even though injuries have not been reported, principal Todd Gribbon admitted. “The activity can cause concussions, and neck and wrist injuries,” he said. True — an activity, including…
Author: lskenazy
In this 9-minute video you’ll meet Shawna, an Oklahoma mom not allowed to play with her kids on the playground because of a “sex offense” she committed at age 19: She had consensual sex with a boy, 14. That was 15 years ago. She is on the registry for life, and registrants are banned from playgrounds. This short was made by David Feige, a public defender and documentarian. Below it I have excerpted some of what he wrote about Shawna and another “offender” you’d probably be proud to have as your son. Don’t read it if you can’t stand…
Looks like the Roseville, California, police department got a little fed up with social media posts going on about local “sex trafficking kidnappers” and “suspicious people.” And so it came out with this amazing document on its Facebook page: True facts about the fears its citizens feel and perpetuate. Kudos to a department that seems determined to do its job. If called, it will investigate. If not called, it will not conjecture about non crimes. And in the meantime, it will do what it can to counter a culture determined to freak out over fake danger. City of Roseville, California…
Frank Giaccio, an 11-year-old kid from Falls Church, VA, wrote a note to Pres. Trump saying he admired his business sense and had a business of his own: He mows lawns, $8 a pop. But it would be his “honor to mow the White House Lawn” as a volunteer. And he got the gig! So now there are pictures of him all over the Internet, mowing the Rose Garden lawn yesterday. And while he’s doing it, out comes the President to shake his hand, and he tells the President he wants to be a Navy Seal someday and it’s a…
How can you take educational matters into your own hands? Read on! Dear Free-Range Kids: Remember this post? We just sent our 2nd grader to public school for the first time and she came home with a reading log to be signed each day as well as signing that she practiced her spelling words. . We talked about it and decided to send the note to the teacher – almost word for word what was listed in the post including that we would be happy to have her sign her own paper. . Today the teacher called to say that…
It is heartening to remember what should be obvious but isn’t in our era of “Get it perfect” parenting. We don’t have to be perfect. In fact, no one is. And if kids NEEDED perfect parents, there would be no humans. So enjoy this video sent to us by the philosopher and commenter Donald Christensen, who runs the enlightening blog, onmysoapboxx.com. . .
Readers, you won’t believe what just happened! Oh, the poor parents! The poor child! The poor…viewers of ABC15! MESA, zeekkyektf AZ – Police in Mesa are investigating an incident where a man made contact with a child at a Walmart store. Pause to start counting how many times they use the word incident, and my rule of thumb when it comes to that word.* According to police, the incident happened shortly before 9 p.m. at a store near State Route 87 and Baseline Road. Police said a 3-year-old child was sitting in a shopping cart while the child’s family members…
This weekend I was talking to an acquaintance — smart, funny, well-read — who said she assumed most people on the Sex Offender Registry are dangerous, because “they just keep doing it, right?” The answer: . That piece is running on the New York Times Op-Docs page (opinion pieces in documentary form). If you want to see more about this issue by filmmaker and Bronx Defender David Feige, I recommend his movie Untouchable. As for whether kids are safe in a neighborhood where there’s a registered sex offender, it turns out that kids are in more danger from people they…
We keep cutting down on kids’ play time so they can do “more important” things. But this West Coast mom of four writes: Dear Free-Range Kids: Today I took my son to the pediatrician for his annual physical. He’s 11. I mentioned the slight turn in of his ankles that I had noticed and wondered if that was cause for concern. She told me his was slight and caused by weak hip flexor muscles. She also told me that it’s a common issue and she’s seen some quite severe, and if you’ve ever seen kids who look like they’re walking…
A mom from Australia writes: Dear Lenore: I had your Free Range Kids book lying around and home and my daughter starting reading it. Now, she is a huge devotee of the FRK movement, and she is doing a school project on it! Her favourite free-range things to do are going the park by herself, and going shopping by herself. Both the park and the shops are a short walk from our house, but do involve her taking her own pocket money and spending it, and crossing the road by herself. She really wants me to send you a photo…