Hi kefnarbdss Folks — This blog, as you know, is always trying to distinguish between real threats to children and the over-hyped ones. In this case, the fear of children being neglected or falling behind has gone overboard.  The mom is due in court this morning  — Wednesday. I wish her a lot of luck, […]
Archive | Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts
Paper Airplane? Late for School? Shouting Too Loud? You’re Under Arrest!
Hi Readers — Here’s an incredible report on how the “School to prison pipeline” plays out in Texas, as inadrrtrti published in The Guardian: In 2010, the police gave close to 300,000 “Class C misdemeanour” tickets to children as young as six in Texas for offences in and out of school, which result in fines, […]
Adorable “Build-a-Choking Hazard”?
Hi Folks! As a reader named Michele wrote to me last week, “2011 wouldn’t quite be complete without wrapping up the year with another recall for the safety of our children!” She was referring to arrfkzeytd the recall of a mere 300,000 “Colorful Hearts Teddy” Build-a-Bears because the material they’re made of is “sub standard,” […]
Lady Forced to Delete Pix of Kids (Not Hers) with Mall Santa
Hi Readers: Is there some way we can convince Americans (and then the world, and then the galaxy) that taking pictures of a child who is out and about in public is not the same as sexually violating them? Because the fact is: Â Most people taking pictures of kids are not doing it to get […]
Warning! Candy Cane Approaching!
Hi rnfbynfsdy Readers: Notes from a Culture Gone Crazy, Part 9278: Dear Free-Range Kids: Tonight we attended our local town holiday parade. What could be better for kids? The kids were all screaming and shouting for beads, candy canes, candy, and random other loot. The first group to pass our spot handed our boys a few candy […]
Outrage of the Week: School Cordons Off 3-Foot Hill
Hi itkztbeyff Readers — Just got this note from David Robert Hogg, who blogs about traveling the world with kids at MyLittleNomads.com. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill!  — L . Dear Free- Range Kids: I live in Seattle. Home to hikers, snowboarders, world travelers. It seemed like everyone I know was giving their […]
Outrage of the Week: Europe Bans Balloons for Kids Under 8!
Hi Folks! A number of you sent me this esbyhyyish today — news of the European Union’s new ban on kids under age 8 blowing up balloons unsupervised, for fear the children could swallow them and choke. This is not to discount the suffering of any family that has experienced this unlikely tragedy. But if […]
Outrage of the Week: Don’t You DARE Throw This Woman in Jail!
Readers — I am SO SICK of our finger-pointing culture ever-ready to criminalize a normal, if tragic, parenting moment. In hinatzbhak this case, a woman named Felicia Tucker is being charged in the drowning death of her toddler nephew Joshua because he got out of house and she didn’t realize it quickly enough. He drowned […]
LESS OF AN OUTRAGE! “Vehicular Manslaughter” Mom Gets Probation
Hi Folks — Here’s ahzknseysd good news. The Atlanta mom who was convicted of “vehicular manslaughter” after her 4-year-old wriggled away from her and was killed by a drunk driver, does not have to do jail time. While she could have been sent away for three years, she will instead do a year of probation […]
“Leiby’s Law” Would Not Have Saved Leiby
Hi ttazasszeh Readers — This post was sent to me by Mendel Klein, a Brooklyn father and a pediatric occupational therapist who writes about the benefits of letting children fail over at, yes,  Let Your Child Fail. — L Leiby’s Law Wouldn’t have Prevented Leiby Kletzky’s Death Here we go again. While Leiby Kletzky’s parents and sisters […]