Every year, the “non-profit” organization W.A.T.C.H. (World Against Toys Causing Harm) comes up with its “10 Most Dangerous Toy” list, which the media laps up. I bet you couldn’t guess the group is run by product liability lawyer James A. Swartz. Here’s my favorite warning of his this time around: . W.A.T.C.H. is raging against Bump ‘n Bounce Body Bumpers, an inflatable garment that seems to make kids into beach balls. The manufacturer dutifully printed on the package: “WARNING! To avoid risk of serious injury or death: …This product does not provide protection. Impact hazard may present; protective equipment (for…
Author: lskenazy
Why do you think Samsung made this nearly 2-minute commercial of young people riding their bikes, talking to strangers, meeting new friends (and, of course, using every single Samsung device on the planet)? (Also getting wet and suddenly dry again. But I digress.) Is the idea to appeal to young people dreaming of such freedom? Nostalgic adults dreaming of their youth? Is Free-Ranging something that BOTH generations long for and just aren’t sure how to get back, so it’s like a fantasy? Or is it on the cusp of a new reality? In other words, is the ad instructional, representational…
UPDATE!The Guardian reports that: A grammar school boy missing for two months after telling his parents he was bored with his life has been found safe and well. Arthur Heeler-Frood, 15, who sparked a nationwide hunt, was apparently making his way home when he was recognised on a train and intercepted by the police…. Speaking to the Guardian on Tuesday night, Caroline Heeler-Frood confirmed he was back at home in rural Devon. She said he had not been abroad but said she wanted to have a proper talk to him before she revealed more. The boy’s mother said: “He is…
A couple of you have sent me this ad that is making the rounds: It was just a normal day at the mall for Jennifer Dellert… until everything went horribly wrong. Sigh. She had just left the mall carrying her shopping bags, and was walking to her car when the unthinkable happened. “I wasn’t parked too far away, and was busy on my phone texting my daughter. “It was about a 60 second walk or so to my car from the mall,” she remembers, “and I kind of had that feeling I was being watched.” Right as she was…
This charming, cheering video — and plea for outdoor adventures for kids — comes from Alastair Humphreys, who describes himself this way: I’m a British Adventurer and author. I spent years tackling big adventures such as cycling 46,000 miles round the world, rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, or walking across India. But a few years ago I took to a very different path. I realised that many people loved the idea of adventure, but very few felt able to live as adventurously as they would like. There are many individual reasons for this, but the general issue was a lack…
Dan Shuchman, chairman of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), the group that fights for free speech on campus, has written this Wall Street Journal review of a book by one of my favorite thinkers, Frank Furedi. Furedi wrote “Paranoid Parenting” back in 2002, which was the first book I read about this new phenomenon of “helicoptering.” Now he is at the vanguard again, and I think there’s a direct link from that book to this one. “What’s Happened to the University?” is about hypersensitivity on campus and the idea that if you do or say anything that anyone…
Who says we’re treating our kids like snowflakes? Oh wait. Dear Free-Range Kids: You’re the only one I can complain to (I’ve tried bringing this up at the school, but have been told it’s for student safety)! It has been raining on and off today, no thunder or lightning. We just got an email outlining the procedures to dismiss the nearly 900 kids from my son’s elementary school. Lenore here. The boldface is mine: Good Afternoon Parents, . Our weather has been unpredictable today. We are anticipating that we might have to alter our afternoon dismissal due to the…
Kids age 6 are old enough to walk themselves to school, Spanish officials are telling parents. A seven-community experiment begun there in 2010 has been hailed as a success by researchers who say that allowing first graders to walk without adult supervision “builds their self-confidence.” According to this piece in The Washington Post by Rick Noack, the experiment was created to counter the pan-European decline in kids getting themselves to school: Surveys show that the share of German 6-year-olds who walk to school alone declined to 17 percent in 2000 from 91 percent in 1970. Figures from the United Kingdom…
If you’re a kid in Beaverton, Oregon — the actual Niketown — you may wonder why your mom never says, “Go to the library.” Maybe it’s because mom has something else to do today other than stare at you. Here is the Beaverton Library’s Rule #2: …[T]he adult/caregiver must supervise the child during the entire library visit by keeping them within their line of sight. If a child under 10 years of age is unattended and an adult/responsible caregiver cannot be located within 5 minutes, library staff will call the Beaverton Police Department. I guess if kids want to read,…
The song “Calling All Angels,” a hit from the group Train, has been watched on YouTube 16.7 million times, so far. It’s a moody, rain-falling, leaf-blowing song, but the bleakest part goes like this: And I’m calling all angels I’m calling all you angels When children have to play inside so they don’t disappear If you watch the video, those lines are at 2:16. Note how the child outside…disappears! Does Train really believe that children who step outside DO disappear? I realize the song is not meant to be instructional, or even factual, but it’s sort of like singing, “When…