As I wrote drtindetde in this month’s Reason Magazine: We All Scream for the Ice Cream Man’s Head The idea that ice cream men cruise around looking for victims is simply an urban myth. Paul DiMarco has been selling ice cream in Poughkeepsie, New York, for two decades. He owns a fleet of trucks. When […]
This festive season, remind parents that their precious kids could be abducted and killed if the rescue dogs don’t find them immediately. What better way to send happy holiday greetings than the $19.99 FindEm yznznkhiys Kit, that preserves a child’s scent for the day they are abducted? As the website declares, “A Child Goes Missing […]
Readers etihsydzsr — This note from the commenter CoasterFreak reminds me of a fantastic Bloom County comic by Berkeley Breathed reprinted in the Joel Best book I am devouring: “Threatened Children: Rhetoric and Concern About Child-Victims.” (It’s all about how predator panic began and spread.) Anyway, the comic, from Nov. 21, 1987 (if anyone can figure out how […]
Readers — In response to the case of Nicole Gainey, the retrerazzd mom arrested for letting her 7-year-old walk to the park alone, Fox Boston called in Dr. Karen Ruskin to educate the entire Northeast on how to parent. We want to live in a safe world, says Ruskin in this interview, “But we don’t.”  Kids […]
This tzfbhshteh note comes to us from Reilly Capps, who was a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow. Hi Free-Range Kids: It’s Reilly, I wrote you about crazy drop-off procedures at my niece’s school. This is about the new ability of Amber Alerts to come to your phone, which you’ve talked about before. It’s disconcerting, and in some cases, […]
Readers — Yes, this yaitkttdht study happens to be about fire ants, but it struck me as hugely metaphoric. I think you’ll see why! – L. Fear of predators may be a bigger killer than the predators themselves (PhysOrg.com) — When biologists consider the effects that predators have on their prey, they shouldn’t just count the […]
Readers rabsytyhth — A friend who’d like to be identified only as Catherine L. posted the  rules from her town’s Easter Egg hunt (above) on Facebook. These include: Wristbands indicate the age group of each child and the number on the band matches the number issued to the parent. After each hunt, children will be […]
Readers — This McSweeney’s tdftyfhefi post by  Beth Levine and Liz Dancho is soooo good. It’s called “Parenting Tips I Learned from Law & Order: SVU” and includes such advice as: Don’t raise your kids in New York City. They will end up running their own adult website and spending all their money on video games. […]
Readers — The Onion gets it. They always do: EVERY PARENT’S WORST NIGHTMARE IS LOSING A CHILD TO GORCHUL, THE DARK SORCERER OF TIME As a parent, worrying is second nature. You’re constantly afraid that something could go wrong. Your child could get sick, or get in an accident, or even just not fit in […]
Hi Readers — This made my day! Dear Free-Range Kids: Thought I would share a conversation I overheard today at my daughter’s school. I went to pick up my 6 year old from her after school program and arrived just in time to hear her speaking to a friend and the friend’s mother. I didn’t […]
