In the town of Milford, Connecticut, in 2005, a grandma named Una decided to build a pool. That way her 14 grandchildren could play in it. Except, she worried: One couldn’t. He was allergic to nuts and there was the possibility that if he and a nut happened to be in the pool at the […]
Archive | Uber Safety
Hey White House Honchos: Your Country Needs You More than Your Kids!
Note bhdkatehrk to White House budget chief Peter Orszag: You are completely, dangerously deluded. Not about the economy! (Or maybe you are — I can’t say.) But you definitely are deluded about your job as a parent. And so are a bunch of your buddies. A recent article in The New York Times, “‘Family Friendly’ […]
Speaking of Paranoia…
Here is a great quote, lifted from The inzttfntke Week (my favorite magazine*), which lifted it from David Iganatius in The Washington Post. It points out that we have gotten so used to thinking in terms of preparing for the very worst, the very least likely scenarios, that that we don’t realize how overbearing (and often dumb) our […]
More Outrage! English Schools Ban Ties For Fear of Choking
English school boys are suddenly being forced to switch from old-fashioned ties to clip-ons. What overactive overprotective notion is behind this development, sent in by reader Gregory Sutter? The BBC ahstbtytkn explains:Â Â In May the Schoolwear Association, the trade body for the school uniform industry, said 10 schools a week in the UK were switching, […]
Outrage of the Week: “Marshmallow Safety Tips”
Gotta aizishtyrt thank Amy Bronee, host of the show Real Parenting on C-FAX in Canada for alerting me to this story in the National Post: Minding your marshmallows Katherine Dedyna, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, July 24, 2009 There’s no such thing as being too careful when it comes to kids and camping – even for hyper-vigilant […]
Pedophiles, Witches & Kids
Sometimes, when I try to explain how frenzied we have become about the real but extremely rare crime of childhood abduction, I compare our era to that of 1692 Salem. There was no way — back then, back there — to convince the average person: Don’t you see you’re being swept up on a wave […]
CAUTION: Sand Presents Uneven Surface!
Enjoy this. arzzfnfhtt Lots of great signs warning of the obvious gathered by a group called The Manifesto Club and reprinted in England’s Daily Mail. These signs remind us that Britian is in some ways more advanced than the U.S. when it comes to worrying about non-worrisome things. Remember: It is England that requires anyone who wants to work with children […]
Free-Range Kids Outrage of the Week: 10-year-old Forbidden to Cross Parking Lot
Would you believe they have charged some intern to walk him across the parking lot?! Geesh people. He’s TEN!
Free-Range Kids Outrage of the Week! (Hint: Mom not allowed at school party)
Hi rnybistrat Readers – I’m thinking of starting a new feature, Free-Range Kids Outrage of the Month (Or Maybe Even Week). Like that idea? Let me know. And send outrages! Meantime, here is Outrage #1, sent by a reader in suburban Texas. This is a note from the local public grammar school about a holiday […]
Why Is Congress “Protecting” Children from Books?
Hi, rfsidhiaki Free-Rangers: Here’s a really thought-provoking (okay, outrage-provoking) guest blog from Rick Woldenberg, a businessman in Illinois who believes in safety, but not in spending millions to protect our our children from nearly non-existent dangers. Read on! By Rick Woldenberg Readers of Free-Range Kids may not be surprised to learn that Congress has enacted […]