Hi Readers — I’ll write about my fabulous day with Mary Duval and her “sex offender” son soon, but first: One of you just sent in this piece that resonated so much. It’s called, “Frolicking kddyiftkfe 101: When Did Kids Stop Knowing How to Play?” by comedian/essayist Sarah Maizes. Excerpt: My kids are frolicking! Really!! MY […]
Archive | Helicopter Effect on Kids
Outrage of the Morn’: High School Students Not Allowed to Light Bunsen Burners?
Hi hbeesffbzb Readers ! This just in. Read it and…give your kids some matches! (Yes, yes, properly supervised, of course.) — L. Dear Free-Range Kids: I am a high school science teacher, parent, and grandparent and a former cubmaster, and I couldn’t agree with you more! This summer I taught a workshop on building model […]
Guest Post: Stranger Danger Stupidity
Hi Readers — I think a lot of us have been in “stranger danger” situations like the one described by Renee Jacobson, a teacher for 20 years, below. Her blog is called “Lessons assakrteyd from Teachers and Twits,” and it’s a twit that she learned this particular lesson from. — Lenore HEY LADY: I AM […]
The Fear That Crept ‘Round the World
Hi fnktysrbbs Readers — Here’s a letter from Korea (where my book was just published in translation!). What’s upsetting is how parental paranoia seems to be creeping around the world, like a virus. — L. Dear Free-Range Kids:Â I’m an elementary/middle school English teacher in South Korea, arguably one of the safest countries in the world. […]
Free-Range Fracas in England!
Hi deyytzedee Readers — England has been in a tizzy about a Free-Range family since last week.  A family I support! Here, London’s Jennifer Howze weighs in. Jennifer is a partner in the online social network British Mummy Bloggers, and she’s lead blogger on the Times of London’s parenting blog Alpha Mummy . Free-Range in London: What’s […]
An Idle Parent is A Good Parent
Hi Readers — You may enjoy this akitfsabdh essay from The Telegraph by Tom Hodgkinson, author of The Idle Parent. His  points basically boil down to: Stay home on the weekends. Let your kids bring you breakfast in bed (they’ll want to do this because they are bored and it’s something fun to do). Don’t […]
The Personal Toll on Helicopter PARENTS
Hi Readers! Just back from the dead, after a grilling incident left me with second degree burns on my right hand FINGER TIPS! Bad news for a blogger (and YEOW!!!!!). So I went to the E.R. and got some very powerful pain drugs. So powerful that they left me lying on the floor all day […]
Guest Post: Don’t Call Me Brave!
Hey zrrzddbiif Readers — I’m not getting totally lazy (I hope), but I DO keep getting these great things I want to post and that I think you’ll love, too. Here’s the latest, from a Tucson, AZ., Â mom of four: DON’T CALL ME BRAVE, by AMY UTZINGER I don’t like being called brave. You’d think […]
Why I’m Not Cheering the “Helicopter Parents Have Neurotic Kids” Study
Hi Readers! A bunch of you have forwarded this aibbanfddt story, from livescience.com, that I’ve been mulling for days: ‘Helicopter’ Parents Have Neurotic Kids, Study Suggests The piece is about a study of 300 college freshmen that found the students who are “dependent, neurotic and less open,” may have their over-involved, over-worried, helicopter parents to […]
Water, Water Everywhere (Including at the School Desk)
Hi riznrhzynt Readers! This note from a teacher interested me so much — and not just because I really hate  bottled water. (Always have. It’s a waste of plastic, and a waste of fuel, in that it gets transported from Fiji or wherever, by boat and truck. And in a country with clean tap water, […]