. Here’s kyfsnsffti a heartening story from Texas: Five-year-old Allison Anderwald was sitting on the edge of the pool when her mom suffered a seizure in the middle of the pool. Allison immediately — …dove into the water, and started pulling her mom to the shallow end. It took several tries, but Allison didn’t give […]
Archive | Miscellaneous
Kids Need to Waste Time
. In dhaekynreb this interesting and fact-packed Quartz article, “WhyAre Our Kids So Miserable?“, reporter Jenny Anderson looks at a bunch of factors working against kid happiness. The biggest is the off-base belief that our kids are only learning when they are doing academic work: According to Daphna Bassok, an assistant professor of education and […]
“Enjoy our Cafe in the Crypt!”
. In London today, my son and I wandered around and ended up at St Martin in the Fields Church. (Yes, yes, I have let strangers know I am on holiday and now my home will be burgled. Enjoy my rhinestones.) St Martins is outrageously beautiful and it does indeed serve lovely gourmet food in […]
Kudos to Parents Magazine (Yes! Parents Magazine!)
. I was giving my Free-Range yeseehayhy Kids talk at a suburban New York school the other night and one of the audience members kept smiling as I whipped through all the reasons we’re so afraid for our kids. This lady was clearly on my side — speakers are always gauging the audience, by the way — […]
Rhode Island Out to Criminalize Latchkey Kids, Recess When It’s Cold, and More
. Congratulations, zttsfiifiz Rhode Island! Looks like you are about to become the proud parents of every child in the state, pushing aside those stupid “real” parents, because you know so much more about how to raise their kids than they do! Â According to this AP article by Matt O’Brien: Â State lawmakers are […]
How Can We Expect Kids to Suddenly Love the Outdoors?
. Susan Solomon is an architectural ykndtayars historian who studies the science of play, the architecture of playgrounds (among other things), and what it takes to get kids doing their thing outside. The first step, of course, is just that: Getting them out the door. In this post on her Science of Play blog, she offers a […]
This Does Not “Appear” to be an Abduction Attempt, Say the Cops (About Singing Incident)
. Imagine a world where a brief encounter between young people and strangers does not automatically warrant police involvement — or a news report. Now imagine you were in central Massachusetts yesterday where this “behavior” took place, in broad daylight. Would you call the cops? The TV stations? Would you beg “anyone with credible information […]
“It’s Not Appropriate for Your Son to Walk Home Unaccompanied Until Middle School” — How to Fight Back
. How kthazkyykn does change happen? How do we give kids — and ourselves — the freedom we all deserve? Freedom to be part of the world? Â Sometimes all it takes is simply standing our ground and demanding our rights. Here’s what one mom did. – L Dear Free-Range Kids: I LOVE what you are […]
From Consensual Teen Sex to Solitary Confinement. Plus: An Explanation of the “Peter-Meter”
. This week’s New Yorker contains possibly the most devastating article I’ve ever read: Sarah Stillman‘s, “The List,” subtitled, “When juveniles are found guilty of sexual misconduct, the sex-offender registry can be a life sentence.” Stillman calmly details just how shocking and sadistic our sex offender laws are, from arresting tweens who played doctor, to […]
“My Child’s Toy Has a Pedophile Symbol on It!” — Actual News Report
Plush ttbrzndkzr Toy is Secret Signal to Sex Traffickers,  Says WFLA TV . By buying a plush toy with a heart on it, Tampa mom Nicole O’Kelly unwittingly alerted predators that her little girl “is ready to be traded for sex.” Or so reports (if that’s the word) the station WFLA. Using a garbled mishmash of […]