This is an amazing new tool — simple, clear, interactive — from Outsideplay.ca (Canada) that helps parents see the importance of giving their kids free, unsupervised time AND make a concrete plan to bring that about! As the University of British Columbia’s Medical School press office explains: Developed by a team led by Marian Brussoni, an Associate Professor in the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) and the Department of Pediatrics, Outsideplay.ca walks parents through their priorities for their child and common concerns about playing outdoors to help them develop an action plan for changing their approach to outdoor…
Author: lskenazy
Here is an interview with my friend and hero, Dr. Peter Gray, author of the mind-opening book, Free to Learn. He is interviewed by another friend and hero of mine, Nick Gillespie, the editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason TV, which produced this piece. . Video edited by Mark McDaniel. Cameras by Todd Krainin and Jim Epstein. Music by Broke for Free. As Reason reports: “School has become an abnormal setting for children,” says Peter Gray, a professor of psychology at Boston College. “Instead of admitting that, we say the children are abnormal.” Gray….says that a cultural shift towards…
Since this pseudo-helpful video is making the rounds again, here’s my take on it, again: It may look like the creator of this video, Joey Salads, is doing something other than creating terror, angst and hate with his Stranger Danger “social experiment.” But he’s not. As you’ll see, Mr. Salads asks parents if they’ve taught their kids not to talk to strangers — a lesson I don’t endorse, since most strangers are good and you want kids to feel confident asking strangers for help, if they need it. “You can TALK to anyone, you cannot go OFF with anyone,” is…
At the Second Annual Southern Indiana Human Trafficking Awareness Conference at Indiana University Southeast, the keynote speaker told the audience: There are a few things that members of the public can look out for to spot a victim of sex trafficking…. Tracking chips are becoming more popular in sex trafficking victims, as well. They’re often found on victims’ hands between the forefinger and the thumb, as well as underneath their arms and on their necks. This tracking thing was something I hadn’t heard before, though years ago when I interviewed the head of Brickhouse Security, he told me that while…
The question of the day (week/year/decade/century): Dear Free-Range Kids: I was wondering if you had any advice when you are met with the following argument against Free-Range Parenting..This came up the other day when I was having a conversation with an opponent to Free-Ranging, and it’s one I’ve heard before. They were arguing against letting a 9-year-old walk by themselves, for fear of them being kidnapped/raped/murdered. . Now, this person completely admitted that the statistical likelihood of this happening was extremely remote. They further admitted that many other things are more dangerous to kids that they don’t protect them from;…
So much of Free-Range Kids is about fighting the restrictions on kids’ freedom. Here’s a video that just might serve as a rallying cry for the kids themselves. KIDS, LOOK WHAT YOU’RE MISSING! DEMAND SOCIETY GIVE IT BACK! . . Kudso to GO RVing for such a wonderful ad. When our family took our big RV trip a few years back, the campsites were filled with kids running around as if it was an old-fashioned neighborhood. It struck me as odd that parents would let their kids be so free among strangers, but perhaps less so at home. This ad…
Is there someone out there who can research why we are experiencing a wave of moms convinced that strangers are about to steal their kids from them in public and pimp them out? Or at least, a wave of moms that re-posts stories by other moms convinced that this just (well, almost just) happened? Because here’s the latest and one of the kookiest: Mom at store not only believes that two “Middle Eastern men” men were sex traffickers eyeing her kids the way a dog eyes a couple of hotdogs, but that her quick-thinking and knife wielding thwarted their evil…
A new study by the University of Iowa found that younger kids have a harder time gauging exactly when it’s safe to cross the street. This is not surprising, but it is a good reminder to neighborhoods that their job is to make it easy and safe for kids to walk around (as Safe Routes to School does) — not to say, “That’s why we have to drive them.” Alas, America’s #1 parenting magazine, Parents, presented the study exactly the way you’d hope it would not: “Science Says Kids Shouldn’t Cross a Busy Street Solo Until They’re 14.” My kids…
A guest post from mom J.W. Curtis: Let me first admit that I made a parenting judgment yesterday, and it came back to bite me. I saw Beauty and the Beast with my youngest daughter (10) and her friend. Who doesn’t love a movie with a Free-Range leading character? Parenting themes about judging others on appearances were all around us…including my own about the other parents at the theater. We caught the early matinee on the last day of school break and it was crowded. Long lines at the ticket counter (why don’t I ever order ahead online?) and…
Believe it or not, this graphic is from the refrigerator magnet of University of California Irvine Prof. Barbara Sarnecka, one of the three authors of that fantastic study proving that when we believe we are rationally assessing child danger, we are actually morally judging. Some other family member put the magnet on the fridge and when Barbara noticed it, she sent it along with a email high-five. As she wrote, “It looks to me that it’s mostly about when NOT to call. Perhaps the police are sick of all the unnecessary alarmism? It’s sort of the opposite of ‘If you…