. Is all European parenting like this? Probably not. I hear of helicopter tendencies creeping in. Nor are all American children on leashes. And yet, there IS a cultural difference and this video — so simple, hence so powerful — packs a punch. It seems to be attracting another one million views each day. How I love the clear and sympathetic link it makes between media constantly hyping danger and parents reacting with understandable terror. If anyone is in touch with the guy behind these ATTN: videos — Matthew Segal — let me know. I want to connect! (And not…
Author: lskenazy
Teacher Tom — “Teaching and learning from preschoolers” — is a joy to read, especially in this case, where we find him bravely confronting that modern day terror: A swing. You may recall that Richland and Spokane Washington school districts both phased out their swingsets. As a spokesman for the Richland district explained at the time: “[I]t’s just really a safety issue, swings have been determined to be the most unsafe of all the playground equipment on a playground.” But here’s how Teacher Tom dealt with the “threat.” When our school moved into its current location, it came with a…
A mom, dad and preschooler went to Home Depot in Valley Stream, Long Island, on Saturday to get some Christmas lights. The child ended up in the hospital and the dad ended up in jail. Here’s what happened. . When the family got to the store, their 4-year-old had fallen asleep. As the dad wrote in an email to me, “He looked so comfortable, snoring a little.” So rather than waking him, they cracked open the sun roof, locked the door and headed inside. . They were at the checkout 15 or 20 minutes later (the lights had been hard…
From our friends in England where the collective upper lip is not quite as stiff as it once was, comes tale of a preschooler who was barred from wearing a certain pair of cute pants because of the cartoon monsters on them. Apparently another child had found them too scary. Scarier than a school banning cartoon pants? Here’s the story — and the pants. . .
This note had my jaw dropping, which in itself is dangerous, because what it it dropped onto a hard surface and broke? Could I sue the commenter, who hails from Flemington, NJ? My second grader still has recess and breaks during the day. However, she routinely complains that they aren’t allowed to go upside down on the monkey bars and aren’t allowed to sit on the top of the climber. I always wondered why kindergarteners weren’t allowed on the playground until October or so. It turns out that it’s because the playground equipment is designed for ages 5-12 and the…
This wonderful, rousing piece by Rachel Lu at The Federalist had ME trembling. (Not shivering! Trembling.) It’s titled, “Stop Siccing the Police on Me If My Kids Don’t Wear Coats For 20 Seconds,” and begins: The envelope trembled in my hands as I slowly broke the seal. This was it. Even when you know it’s coming, you never feel fully prepared. Slowly, I unfolded the page. “Dear Parent,” it read. “Winter weather has arrived, and it’s time for a reminder about appropriate winter attire.” Emotion welled up inside me, and I could read no further. Emotion wells inside me with…
This public service announcement tells you not to abandon your toddler in the park, even if you’re having a bad day. Because…this is such a pervasive problem? . Here’s what Ellie Lee, director of the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies at the University of Kent, has to say: How can any responsible public service organisation make a film like this? This film serves no possible positive purpose.It’s single most likely outcome is to provoke unnecessary alarm about the safety of any child who does not have a parent right next to them at all times. In general it will fuel…
In light of the annual warnings about “dangerous” toys, and these litigious times in general, we asked you to come up with the ultimate — a trial lawyer’s sweetest dream, the insurance industry’s wish come true: A warning label for a ball. Because when there are NO ACCIDENTS, the world is your courtroom! Contest winner will receive an autographed copy of my book, but these are all so fun. Thanks to everyone who entered, even those who did so on Twitter. And please, please watch out for spherical objects. Fun kills! *******AT LAST! A WARNING LABEL FOR A BALL******* …
A 7-year-old boy in Switzerland was ostensibly so “pampered” by his “overprotective” parents that he now is being sent to a school that sounds like it is for kids with special needs. I am a little skeptical of this story line, for a couple of reasons, the first being that I did an entire TV series where I intervened in 13 families where the parents were extraordinarily risk-averse when it came to their children: a 10-year-old whose mom still hand-fed him like a baby; an 8-year-old whose mom let him have a skateboard, but he could only stand on it,…
The whole point of the public sex offender registry is ostensibly to keep children safe. Read this story, which I wrote for Reason.com, with that in mind: In Florida, a wheelchair-bound man with end-stage Alzheimer’s must move out of the hospice where he’s dying, because he is a registered sex offender and the hospice is too close to a preschool. Phew! That will certainly make the kids a lot safer. Not that he was ever a threat to kids anyway. The dying man, Jack Ehrhart, was convicted of a sex offense about 30 years ago, when he was a doctor.…