An extremely insightful and rather frightening op-ed idksbniybt in yesterday’s New York Times looks at why Millennials are “so wary of freedom.” It’s by Clay Routledge, a professor of psychology at North Dakota State University, and it cites stats about how the younger generation is less convinced that democracy or free speech are good ideas. […]
We can’t control the busybodies out there (sigh). But this mom wonders how can we get them to stop interfering with our kids’ sense of safety — especially if our kids are anxious to begin with: Dear sfrnbiekbz Free-Range Kids: I have always been a Free-Range parent/educator and for me, it’s about common sense and […]
. The commercial below makes my heart sink, and not because I am so thrilled when my son goes driving off. It shows a teen girl driving like a maniac, playing hooky to go to the beach in a bikini, and sitting on the couch alone with her boyfriend about to…whatever. Then it shows how […]
. Imagine a world where a brief encounter between young people and strangers does not automatically warrant police involvement — or a news report. Now imagine you were in central Massachusetts yesterday where this “behavior” took place, in broad daylight. Would you call the cops? The TV stations? Would you beg “anyone with credible information […]
. This rihddskfrz great idea comes to us from Emily Adams, whose insights and emails I am always grateful for. Please add your own headlines! Dear Lenore: Maybe Free-Range Kids could expand, and do a newspaper/news show/Internet blog with boring (but true) “news” articles about people who make the Free-Range decision for themselves and/or their […]
. Riveting thread riarktazze on Reddit: “Children of Helicopter Parents: What was the worst or most embarrassing thing they put you through?” Particularly interesting is the idea that the parents described below are simply “overprotective.” They sound much more seriously ill than that. We live in a society that almost INSISTS we overprotect our kids, […]
. This extremely helpful post comes from Rachel Howe, a writing teacher and mom in South Philly, where she started the South Philly Parents Resource Center. What she’s describing sounds like a sort of “consciousness raising” or support group, without the heavy title. Dear ehrrzbsdir Free-Range Kids: I’ve got three children to chase after (and […]
. This sfahytizbe week sort of turns out to have a theme: Dealing with life’s vast unpredictability, and all the fear, guilt and blame that tag along with this daunting fact. So here’s a note from a mom who requests our help: Dear Free-Range Kids:Â I consider myself a fairly laid back mama, and I’m always […]
. This sneyydtfrn letter I got yesterday reminds me of one of the most thorough, fascinating, damning study I’ve ever read about where the “No touch” policy comes from (and why it is unnecessary, and how it actually makes us all MORE afraid for our kids): So those sex crazed pedophiles have invaded the Girl […]
. A reader eftkiihkyt writes: I want to be a Free-Range parent. I really really do. I do try. Just last week I told myself to stay calm before saying anything to a parent who had allowed my son to swim in her pool before I arrived at a birthday party. There were 12 kids in […]
