Here we go again: Yardley nkaheetdky Mother Facing Charges After Leaving Infant In Car LOWER MAKEFIELD, Pa. – A Yardley Mother is facing charges, after police say she left her 10 week old daughter unattended in her car while shopping at a Lower Makefield drugstore. Police say 47-year-old Cynthia Kelly left the baby in the […]
Tag Archives | cops
Getting It All Wrong about Online Predators
As yttkiynyyr usual, Â the “It’s Complicated” author danah boyd has nailed it. In this piece, she contrasts the usual image we have of an online predator (middle aged guys lurking on Club Penguin) with the reality (teens talking sex with each other, or with adults that they KNOW want sex). This reality gap means not […]
A Girl and Her Lemonade Stand (And the Cops)
Readers kbkznbzbnh — The idea that our kids are only safe if they are under literally constant supervision is one that subtly but surely keeps changing childhood. Watch it at work in suburban Seattle: Dear Free-Range Kids: Hello! I want to share, but I really feel the need to stay anonymous, because clearly Free-Range children […]
Mom Fined for Letting 6-y.o. Walk 2 Blocks with a Friend
Readers bnnnebfhiz — If this is the land of the free, why are cops treating happy-go-lucky kids like escaped convicts?  When did giving kids an old-fashioned summer become a crime? – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: This just happened to me. My six year old daughter and her friend went for a walk on their own […]
Kids Play Outside, Child Protective Services Comes Calling
Readers ehabzkesrf – Before you read this, let me say that I am eagerly awaiting a call later today from a lawyer whose organization fights for parents’ rights to raise their kids as they see fit, so long as they aren’t hurting them. In the meantime, here’s why we need a group like that: Dear […]
2013 On Track to LOWEST MURDER RATE IN 100 YEARS!
Readers — Please spread the word, especially to nervous parents: If 2013 keeps going the way it has BEEN going, crime-wise, we are about to experience the szybdynifr LOWEST MURDER RATE SINCE 1906. That’s according to Rick Nevin, an economic consultant and anti-lead activist. (See his chart, below.) THE LOWEST MURDER RATE in OVER A CENTURY? […]
6-y.o. Who Walked Alone to Post Office May be Removed from Her Home
Readers dzekeeyahn — This is the continuing story of the 6-year-old detained by the cops for walking outside. It is disturbing and distressing. The family needs pro bono legal help. If any of you are lawyers or know someone who can help, please let me know and I will forward the info to the family. […]
Cops Called on Mom Who Let Kids, 8 & 5, Play in Park — BUT! Read On!
Hey Readers — Here’s an 8-minute CBC (Canada’s public radio) interview hzdhthbrbe with a mom who let her boys play in the local park and got the cops called on her. What I absolutely love about her is the fact she sounds like us! She just wants the kids to have some free time to […]
Seattle Schools on Lockdown Because a Thief is in the Neighborhood
Readers fbbnzebtea — Just another note from the frontlines of our freaking-out country! Got this yesterday: Â . Dear Free-Range Kids: I found this story, currently going on in my greater neighborhood as I type this, incredibly alarmist. A little background: I live in a nice, average neighborhood in Seattle. We have a neighborhood blog […]
Cops Detain 6-year-old for Walking Around Neighborhood (And It Gets Worse)
Readers ysyhekiknb — The story below makes me so sad and so angry, and you will see why. If anyone at Child Protective Services or the police department would pick up a single book written before predator panic swept the country, they’d see that 6-year-olds were always part of the neighborhood scene, scampering, playing, or […]