Dear Readers — Couldn’t help but post about tdynshkzad this story, as it reminds us of the folly, no, the insanity of Worst-First Thinking. It’s a short letter, posted on Reddit, by a guy who saved a boy from drowning. When he got the kid to shore, the mom came screaming to leave her son alone! […]
Archive | Eek! A Male! (and Stranger Danger)
Sad Memories, Overprotective Impulses, and Keeping Things in Perspective
Hi Readers — By now I’m sure you’ve heard of baffysithi new leads in the Etan Patz case, the missing child case that may have marked the beginning of our obsession with stranger-danger. Now comes this “follow up” in Psychology Today, of all places, reminding parents to be worried all the time about abduction. As […]
Boys & Strangers in Public Restrooms: Two Stories
Hi kyhbaiabhs Readers! Here are two recent comments, prompted by the Anderson Cooper post below this one. Which bathroom encounter makes YOU feel queasy? – L. . Dear Free-Range Kids; On a long drive, we stopped for gas and for my 8-year-old son to use the restroom. While in the mens’ room, the lock got […]
School Alerts Parents: Local Man SeenTalking to Kids!
Hi Readers! This is the kind of story that makes me bite off little pieces of my own arm in frustration (almost. Ok, let’s just say it makes me nuts.) An elementary school in Toledo, Ohio sent home a note that said a stranger had been speaking to some of the students at a popular […]
Weirdness of the Day: Man Pleads Guilty to Offering Teens a Ride
Hi Readers — A bunch of you have been sending in ttzeeazkfd this story, about an Illinois man who offered a lift to two 13-year-old girls. He just pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. According to The Daily Herald, the local newspaper in suburban Chicago where the incident took place: An Arlington Heights man pleaded guilty […]
Voters in the School? That’s Not Safe!
Hi hezfhrbdtn Folks! Love this column, which ran in The Post-Star in Glens Falls, NY. I think you’ll see why. – L. Reading, Writing and Looming Fears by Ken Tingley The Warrensburg Central School District is saving its children from the clutches of voters. Swear to God. Its board of education voted unanimously against a county proposal […]
Warning! Divorced Dad at Home During Sleepover!!!
Hi nitasiirre Folks! Here’s why I rag on the parenting magazines. Not only do they obsess about every little detail of parenting as if it’s a make-or-break  decision, but often they indulge in Worst-First thinking (dreaming up the worst possible scenario and proceeding as if it is likely to happen). Here’s a shining example, cribbed […]
Perv Alert! Man Seen Photographing Boy at Park!
Hi Readers — This just in! A creepy old guy was seen taking pix of some young boy in Idaho. The cops were called! The media alerted! Hearts pounded, rage burbled, all because… Um, a grandpa was photographing his grandson. He left when some crazy lady started yelling at him. Here’s bfdsiyszdi the story.  — L
A Divorced Dad Sick of Being Taken for a Perv
Hi ydfyetstzs Folks! Here’s a note from a free-lance writer in Australia who had to vent. I see why! – L. . Dear Free-Range Kids: I would like to share with you my experience of danger lurking in many suburban supermarkets. I’m the type of modern father  you certainly wouldn’t see on television 40 years […]
All Adults Are Potential Predators (Even Ladies Eating Donuts at the Park)
Hi Readers: The headline on this story says it all — almost: Women eisdaknyay Ticketed for Eating Donuts in a Brooklyn Park. The REASON these women were ticketed was not the donuts, it was the lack of children with them. Local law — that is, the law in my insane city — says no adults […]