. This weekend, 11-year-old Reilly McMillan and her sister Gracie, 8, have a sad, government-mandated task ahead of them. They must take down the tree swing in front of their house — the one they made and put up with their dad. It could “chafe” the tree’s bark. The problem is that while the tree […]
. Law school students at Britain’s University of East Anglia have been told not to throw their mortarboards in the air upon  graduating — it’s just too dangerous. Instead, they are being asked to “mime” the gleeful tossing, with the caps to be Photoshopped in later, for an added fee of about $12. I szsdknaerb […]
. Here’s my nkizdyiber piece from last week’s New York Post about how we get so used to over-the-top security measures that we think we can’t reverse them. But maybe we can. Maybe we must. Our Unfounded Obsession with Safety Is Costing Us our Freedom by Lenore Skenazy As you inch your way through security […]
. At first I read these official Girl bnttsyisrz Scout Safety Tips as saying girls age 6-12 must be supervised by an adult when selling door to door. Then I read them again, particularly Tip #4: Safety Tips:Â All girls who participate in the Girl Scout Cookie Program use 10 Basic Safety Guidelines 4. Partner with […]
. My friend, neighbor, and inspiration, Dan Akst, showed me this rbfzybbazd column of his about a science program one of his twin sons attended two summers ago at a New York State university. Though the program was for high school juniors — kids about 16 or 17 — here’s what the brochure promised: Resident […]
. As you read this, note that the mom who wrote this, Alisha, is herself a retired bhkrheshhk “paramedic/firefighter is very aware of what is truly dangerous and is tired of EVERYTHING being treated as such.” Me too. Not tired of precautions. Not tired of safety. Tired of seeing all of childhood through the lens […]
. Our culture SAYS we want to raise independent, problem-solving, self-reliant young people. We even have groups like the Scouts and Guides to foster just that ppirit. And then for one reason or another — insurance, fear, knee-jerk no-saying — Â we do this: Dear bkhbebyadk Free-Range Kids: I really enjoyed the movie this morning about […]
. It’s so strange to me that society doesn’t connect the dots. Especially dots as obvious as these: Dear bnbazidefk Free-Range Kids:  I live in Rockhampton Queensland Australia. Our town is one of the states most obese. Rockhampton has been identified as one of the cities that our states health system recently targeted to pilot a healthy eating, […]
Boy Scouts can’t shoot squirt guns at each other. Here’s the nytketikkz rulebook (see page 99). And here’s the article for Boy Scout leaders that points out:  “Water guns and rubber band guns must only be used to shoot at targets, and eye protection must be worn.†Water balloons, meanwhile, have a size limit: “For water balloons, use small, biodegradable […]
. Like everyone else, I wish that the suicidal Germanwings pilot had been stopped from boarding the plane. I even think it makes sense for Europe to copy our “two people in the cockpit at all times” rule. Nonetheless,  I love this essay by Stacey Gordon on her blog Xray nrazbykdyf Vision about the impossibility of predicting […]
