You know the old saying: When life hands you a CPS investigation (or two), make lemonade. That’s what Danielle Meitiv of Silver Spring, Maryland, is doing and we are thrilled! The famously Free-Range mom is running for Montgomery Country County Council Member at Large, she told us, “to make this county the best place it could possibly be for kids.” The election is next year. Danielle rose to national — international! stratospheric! — prominence when her kids, age 10 and 6 at the time, were picked up by cops for walking home from a park together, unaccompanied by an adult.…
Author: lskenazy
This article by Elizabeth Nolan Brown at Reason (a site I write for, too) is a must-read: House Overwhelmingly Supports Bill Subjecting Teen Sexters to 15 Years in Federal Prison Nolan writes (boldface mine): Teens who text each other explicit images could be subject to 15 years in federal prison under a new bill that just passed the House of Representatives. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), ranking member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, has called the measure “deadly and counterproductive.” “While the bill is well intended, it is overbroad in scope and will punish the very people it…
A mom, a toddler, a slide. A mom named Kara wrote this on the CityMoms blog about a day she was spending with her 18-month-old at the park: This was not the first day we had gone down the slide together, either. I had done it before at other parks and probably several times at this particular park as well….Then one uneventful trip down the slide and I heard some crying. I looked up and realized my son’s leg had gotten tucked up under us from the force of gravity going down the slide. He screamed. A lot. As you…
Not to pile on United. But… . Dear Free-Range Kids: AARGH!!!! . Can you please do a piece on unaccompanied minors policies? I’m having the most frustrating day trying to get my 15 year old to his academic summer camp in July. We live in Vancouver, Canada and his camp is in Atlanta, Georgia. This is a kid who’s traveled extensively internationally with us, and last year flew to Tokyo on his own for camp. . However, according to United Airlines, he’s a child. He can’t fly by himself *EVEN IF WE PAY THEIR RIDICULOUS FEE* because it’s a connecting…
This cascade of emails between a Free-Range dad and his more helicopter ex-wife is difficult to read. But over the years, many readers have written to me about the same kind of issue, so perhaps there’s some comfort in realizing this is not uncommon. I have changed the names. . Dear Free-Range Kids: I am a divorced father of 4 children (all adopted) 13, 12, 10 and 8. My oldest is Sam, seventh grader in a small Midwestern town. Fairly active kid running cross country and track, singing in the show choir, Pokemon club, has his own…
A note for anyone traveling with kids or around any kids who are traveling! Dear Free-Range Kids: Had the usual shenanigans travelling with the kids yesterday. After 45 minutes waiting for our luggage in a hot, busy baggage hall the kids were bouncing off the walls. I was desperately trying to keep them entertained and not annoying other people. An elderly lady beckoned me over to where she was sitting to say “my son used to be a little monkey and he’s an orthopaedic surgeon now, so there’s hope!” Nothing like a little adult solidarity in these situations 😉 –…
After a bus full of middle schoolers in Raytown, Missouri, drove past a person dead from suicide about 50 feet away, the principal did what principals feel they must do in the wake of anything. She sent a letter home. . Among the suggestions to parents, regarding their kids: “Provide positive, non-violent activities to help them cope.” As if: 1 – The kids couldn’t otherwise cope. 2 – Parents were about to suggest some evil, violent activities to help them cope. 3 – Parents need pointless pablum from public officials about how to raise their children. The letter also warns…
Just a thought about a cultural artifact: Dear Free-Range Kids: As I walked my dog this evening, I saw that my neighbors had placed an old refrigerator on their lawn with a “free” sign attached to it. At first I thought, “Those doors need to be removed!” or “Those doors need to be chained shut!” I grew up in the 1970s and have clear memories of being told stories of kids climbing into broken refrigerators and not being able to get out — only to later be found dead inside. But then I realized this is 2017 and…
This piece comes to us from Sandy Rozek, communications director with the National Association for Rational Sex Offender Laws. One of Sandy’s primary concerns is implementing effective measures that will aid in reducing the sexual abuse of children. She is especially disturbed when children are threatened with and harmed by the registry, something that purports to help protect them. Reckless threat of registration brings death to son, family By Sandy “They scared him to death.” When Maureen Walgren of Naperville, Illinois, said this, referring to the conversation that school officials and law enforcement had with her 16-year-old honor student son…
Remember, folks, what SEEMS like just a normal amount of supervision now — that is, constant — was not normal until very recently, as this clip from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, reminds us. Elliott, a “boy of 9 or 10,” stays home from school alone for a day. And his sister Gertie, 5, stays home for a short stint while her mom runs an errand. Oh, and moms put MERCURY THERMOMETERS in their kids’ MOUTHS and no one called social services! . .