Readers yzthrkaefk – We all want some sensible safety precautions taken in schools, but as far as I can tell they were all in place about 50 years ago and don’t really need to get more persnickety. But just as something there is that loves a wall, something there is that loves another layer of […]
Archive | Insurance repercussions
Disney Bans Kids Under 14 from Entering Its Parks Alone
Hi Readers – Out of the blue, Disney has declared that no individual under age 14 can enter its parks solo anymore. According zkehntrrtb to NBC News: The child’s parent or guardian would then be contacted if the visitor is underage, and that adult would need to physically come accompany the child into the park. Disney […]
A Knife, a Walmart Birthday Cake and a Frenzy of Overreaction
Hi Readers — Over at CommonGood.org, drbfnbysdb I’ve got an essay about the family that found a paring knife at the bottom of the birthday cake they bought for their 2-year-old at Walmart. The teary-eyed father lamented, “We’re not going to get that second birthday back ever.” Ohmigod–he’s right! How is anyone expected to recover from a […]
Mind-boggling SENSE About Play, Injuries & Rules
Readers, once in a while – if you ignore the school safety drills involving real helicopters and the school boy suspensions involving imaginary guns – you can feel like things are going in exactly the right direction. This is one of those moments. Look at this article, “Call dnyrahfdhh to Ditch Red Tape on Playtime […]
Small Town to Lose Its Only Sledding Hill
Hi Readers — Paxton, a small town in Illinois, where the land is flat as flat can be, is about to lose its only sledding hill to the Abominable Insurance Man. So says Esquire: …The iikaktbatb Paxton Park District’s insurance provider ruled that its sledding hill is too risky. “The insurance would have skyrocketed if someone […]
Don’t Give Your Kids the House Keys Till They’re 16?
Readers — As we continue to document the infantilization of young people, including how and why this trend began, here’s a  bright trail to one of the culprits: The insurance industry. Remember, insurance has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking all freedom and  responsibility away from minors. If kids were all in […]
Is This Really What’s Happening To Girl Scouts? Is There a Red Tape Merit Badge?
Hi kksshskazy Readers — I’ve got sons, so I have not been privy to what’s happening to Girl Scouts. This letter, in response to the blog post about Iowa Girl Scouts selling four of its rustic camps for being TOO rustic, Â has me dismayed. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids:Â I co-led a troop from 1st grade-6th […]
Happy Fat Choking-Hazard Tuesday!
From kbrsfeyzsn the Brave New World of Fearing Everything (probably including lawsuits), as sent to us by Judy in Warrington, PA: . Dear Free-Range Kids: Today at Wegman’s, I was unable to purchase a King’s Cake (Fat Tuesday tradition) with the lucky baby trinket hidden inside. It seems it is now a choking hazard, even […]
School’s Playground Equipment Declared Too Dangerous Even Though it is Ridiculously Safe
Readers — If you want to watch the decline and fall of Western Civilization, check out this bsnadtnsft article in yesterday’s Washington Post about a suburban D.C. school, Stratford Landing, Â whose PTA purchased a rather cool-looking piece of climbing equipment. They bought it, Â using bake sale and other fundraising money, Â from a playground company that […]
Are Today’s Kids So Much More Delicate? Save the Dennis the Menace Train!
Hi Readers — One of you just sent edehsashfr this Facebook page about plans to stop letting kids play on this fabulous old locomotive located at the Dennis the Menace park in Monterey,California. The reasons? Take a guess. I’ve dropped a note to the activist running the FB page, haven’t heard back yet and wanted […]