Hey Readers! Here’s a btkdaeyzza feel-good story:Â Â Students from grade school on up are filling sandbags at a fantastic clip in order to save the town of Fargo, N.D., from flooding. According to A.P. writer James MacPherson: Thousands of volunteers are lending a hand this week to fill and stack sandbags to place along the river […]
A Public Defender Discusses the Sex Offender Registry (& Why It’s Almost Worthless)
Hi nzsyrnyihi Readers — This letter below came in as a comment. I wanted to highlight it here because of its startling but spot-on conclusion: The best way to keep kids safe from molestation is to let them know they can tell us about anything sexual that has happened and we won’t be mad. The […]
The Wisdom of Wikipedia
Hi isadzkrrit Folks! Just found this great Wikipedia entry. I hadn’t heard of “Mean World Syndrome” before, but it really makes sense! It’s almost a relief to have a name to give the ramped up fear so many parents feel. — Lenore Mean World Syndrome (via Wikipedia) Mean World Syndrome is a phenomenon where the violence-related […]
Fun and Games — Literally
Hi Readers — One of you just sent in the link to this amazing site: Streetplay.com, rhndberyat where you can find the basic rules for a ton of old-fashioned games, from jacks to marbles to the one that I always heard about but never knew what it was: Ringoleavio, which sounds like Hide & Go […]
Hey Teens! Start Walking!
Hi Readers — ykdnttszre Here’s a little study I was just reading that said that getting teens to do more walking lowers their blood pressure. I guess that’s not a big surprise, but it is a nice reminder (to me, anyway, with a son about to turn 14), that walking should be part of his […]
Thank You, SNL
Hey Readers — Here kattysszin is a wonderful little skit from Saturday Night Live. It’s not about kids, it’s about women. But the message works for both: Buy our safety device. Or live (if you’re lucky!) to regret it. — Lenore
Recess Coaches: Good Idea?
Hi Readers! Well today a topic dfhybfhrta we’d discussed a little earlier (and earlier still)Â Â has made the front page of The New York Times. “Forget Goofing Around: Recess Has a New Boss,” is about a recess assistant hired at an elementary school in Newark, NJ, where many of the kids had ostensibly been spending recess […]
What will they think of next?
Hi all, the Deputy here for one more post.  Lenore will be back on Monday. We’ve talked a lot about the United Kingdom and their, well, obsession with rooting out pedophiles, or as they write, paeodophiles.  I think they finally, yes finally, have this problem really and truly licked.  Tim Black of Spiked-Online reports that […]
This is how it all started…
Hi all! Â The Deputy here. Â Lenore is away for a few days and I am filling in for her. On mamapedia, biyhndhhtz the editors asked their readers to vote on this very, very dear to our free-range hearts issue: Â Would you let your 4th grader ride public transportation without an adult? Â Lenore is smiling right […]
Recent Tweets — And Off to Tucson
Hi Readers — From time to time I like to post  some of my recent tweets here, for those who are not (yet) Twittering away. So – voila, in no particular order: 1 -Whole NY Times story on whether Disney ousted anti-commercialism kids group from its Harvard home: http://nyti.ms/9y4IV3 2 fhdrseyftb – New blog from KaBoom […]