Hi fnretnbazi Readers! Here’s my Wall Street Journal oped from last week. Enjoy! (Or whatever.) — L. Perhaps 2011 will be recalled as the year that a toddler accidentally got served an alcoholic drink at a Michigan Applebee’s. Not the biggest news this year, but the fact that it was a national story at all […]
Archive | Media Madness
Help Needed: How New Is TV’s Kids-Getting-Killed Obsession?
Hi Folks! This zftfrdrzss article on tv.msn talks about the trend of using kids in danger — or actually murdered — as the “newest” hook on TV dramas. It lists several of this season’s shows — “The Walking Dead,” “Breaking Bad,” “American Horror Story,” “Dexter” — that feature poisoned, executed and/or potentially eviscerated kids, including […]
Why It Feels Like Kids are Being Kidnapped All the Time
Hi kkskasdeiz Folks! So many people I talk to (especially for my upcoming show) are convinced that children area being kidnapped all the time, everywhere, that they cannot let their children go outside on their own. Here’s a succinct look at why parents feel this way, as presented in a comment by the reader whose […]
What’s The Difference Between a Sack Lunch & a Recently Beating Heart?
Hi Readers — Nothing, as you know, is safe enough for children. Not notebook aifiriteeh paper (as we saw a few posts below). Not toddling (as evidenced by the existence of the ThudGuard). And not old-fashioned spoons (which explains the kiddie spoons that change color when food is “too hot.”)  And now, it turns out, […]
Don’t You Step on This Blue Swede (or her shoes)
Hi Readers — Forgive the belabored headline. Here’s nnkherhfbn a story one of you alerted us all to in the post below this one:  A Swedish woman left her baby outside a Massachusetts restaurant for 10 minutes while she ordered inside. Someone saw the boy, called the cops and the cops called Department of Child and Family […]
“Millions Irrationally Feared Dead in Minor Train Accident” – The Onion
Readers — Sometimes I need a break, as I’m sure you do too. And what could be better than a snippet from The Onion reminding us just how driven the news media and  “experts” can be when it comes to whipping up fear? Enjoy!  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQdZQjgGT-I]
Two Stories You Won’t Hear on the News
Hi stsiynznyh Readers! Here you go! — L Dear Free-Range Kids: I live in a small town (less than 300 residents) in Southwest Pennsylvania,  and regardless of the image the local-ish news channels portray, it is VERY safe. I grew up in the house I am living in, my  parents live next door. The other […]
Applebee's Over-reaction
Hi Readers — The other day, a toddler at an Applebee’s was accidentally served alcohol instead of juice. It’s appalling — the mom said she knew something weird was going on when he started saying “Hi!” to the walls —  but the bottom line is: The child was unharmed and this was  one single incident. […]
“Do the Right Thing.” Yeah — But What Is It?
Hi nbbdddkber Readers! Here’s a brilliant note from a gal named Ann: Dear Free-Range Kids. Here’s a Liberty Mutual ad with the tag line “Do the right thing.” The situation is a mom picking up her two kids from soccer. They’re late and need to get to the airport. But another kid is still sitting on […]
Oh Please! “Terrifying”? The Latest “Alarming!” News?
Readers: This “service” piece on NBC Over-Reaction News — sorry, NBCÂ Action tfnsyifreb News — Â tells us that because there is a GPS locator embedded in the pix we take on our cell phones, “the bad guys” can NOW SEE where our children live, where they “recreate” (such a police verb — it means play), and […]