Hi Readers — When you get right down to it, a lot of Free-Range Kids ends up being a plea for more community. More helping each other, more trusting each other, even more hanging out with each other. And here is a story of just that: A brief glimpse of how nice it is when […]
But Wait! Fox News! Do You Really Believe —
November 4, 2009
Hi Readers — First of all, thanks for all the help on the post before this one, when I asked for ideas and zingers. I printed out your responses and they really helped. Alas, as anyone who chanced upon my 3-nanosecond appearance on Fox & Friends this morning knows, the event did not go quite […]
Should You Track Your Kids via GPS?
November 3, 2009
Hi Readers — Tomorrow I’m on Fox & Friends at 8:20 a.m. Eastern Time talking about the Little dzybhsysze Buddy Child Tracker — a device that allows parents to track their kids’ every move. What upsets me is the rationale behind the product: That children are in danger every second they step out the door, […]
5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do!
November 3, 2009
Hi Readers! I’ve been enjoying this ntnhsffzrz video for a couple of years now. Maybe you’ve already seen it — it’s a TED talk by Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School. It’s the argument that got me to allow my kids to start using matches. Have fun! (And get a fire extinguisher.) — Lenore [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuoH8nsrlqI]
Kids Aren’t In Danger Every Time They Wait in the Car!
November 1, 2009
Hi dzbkkfefkt Readers! Yes, here is another “I left my kid in the car for a sec” story. Why? Because I am astounded to find commenters even here on Free-Range Kids berating the parents who make this sane, safe choice when circumstances call for it. These parents are not leaving their children in active volcanos. […]
To See Where Childhood Is Headed, Look at Halloween
October 31, 2009
Hi Readers! You’ve seen some of the facts here before — like the fact no child has EVER been poisoned by a stranger’s candy, as far as university research can tell — but if you need a little Halloween pep talk, here fnnhydezff it is, on Huffington Post. My main point? If you want to see […]
Halloween: Too Scary for Kids?
October 31, 2009
Hi Readers — and BOO! Oh my God! Sorry! I hope your kids weren’t reading over your shoulder! I didn’t mean to scare the little dears — it could traumatize them for life! Imagine the psychiatric bills — or years in the insane asylum! That’s the way we’re supposed to think of kids now: Too […]
The Dame in Spain
October 30, 2009
Hola Readers — I’m just back from Spain, which seems a little more Free-Range than America. (And Canada. And especially England!) One Madrid playground my son Izzy and I visited actually had a see-saw, something you rarely see (saw) in America anymore, thanks to the fear of bump-induced lawsuits. Izzy declared it the most fun […]
No Parents on the Playground! (They Might Be Predators)
October 30, 2009
Hi Readers — Take a Valium  THEN read this: fnzdzeeiih Two “adventure” playgrounds in England  have BANNED PARENTS. After all, parents are adults and so are sexual predators,  so from now on, in the land of the Magna Carta, only playground workers who have passed a background check will be allowed in. Why? Councillors in […]
Homework is a Free-Range Topic
October 28, 2009
I just finished reading what could be considered a perfect companion book to the Free-Range Kid movement, The ztybnadnit Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish. Lenore has blogged about this before, and Sara’s terrific website stophomework is on Lenore’s blog roll. In a nutshell: Bennett and Kalish state that there is little […]