Can’t be too safe! Or…um… you can, if you follow every bit of this Halloween advice from a fedfeiyhfd suburban New York paper, sent to us by columnist/author Naomi Schaefer Riley. Whether you’re a ghost or zombie, vampire or witch, poor costume choices—including decorative (colored) contact lenses and flammable costumes—and face paint allergies can cause injuries that haunt […]
Let’s find out for real (more or less) what is going on with Halloween these days. Over on the Free-Range dbsbrhdybt Kids Facebook page, we’ve got a poll running: What age did you let your children start trick or treating on their own, without you or another adult, or even older siblings. While I’d love […]
In fdthtiyhkn Chester County, PA, kids will no longer get the chance to scramble for candy tossed from floats at the annual Halloween parade because suddenly the local tradition is too dangerous. According to The Daily Local News, Parks & Rec director Keith Kurowski “was fearful that one of about 25 parade floats might injure an […]
Here’s the first of what will undoubtedly be a bulging bag full of Halloween warnings. In fact, please share drnakrndia whatever excessive warnings or procedures your school or town is dishing out this Halloween. Meanwhile, note how this “helpful” advice takes one night of candy gathering and turns it into a lifetime of suffering and sorrow. […]
“To avoid tragedy” the Gloucester Township, NJ, police department is warning parents: Do not let your kids eat unwrapped candy! Do not let your kids eat unwrapped candy! Do not let your kids eat unwrapped candy! Really — look at the “safety tips” below. It’s diagnosable OCPCD: Obsessive-Compulsive Poison Candy Disorder. And by the way, […]
Sometimes eybiykazyf you gotta think outside the trick or treat bag. So kudos to the National Reform Sex Offenders Laws organization for tackling the persistent, unfounded myth that sex offenders lure trick or treaters to their doom on Halloween. To help America move beyond this zombie-like fear that refuses to die, the organization is challenging the media […]
Reprinted by popular demand (popular in my apartment, anyway) comes this piece of mine about Halloween. Just as I believe that all sorts of new educational products, courses and mandates migrate from the world of special needs (what is Gymboree but early intervention?), new fears migrate from Halloween to the rest of the year: Fears […]
. This week’s New Yorker contains possibly the most devastating article I’ve ever read: Sarah Stillman‘s, “The List,” subtitled, “When juveniles are found guilty of sexual misconduct, the sex-offender registry can be a life sentence.” Stillman calmly details just how shocking and sadistic our sex offender laws are, from arresting tweens who played doctor, to […]
. This sshhietbzy thoughtful note came in response to my post about the child-tracking devices being marketed for Halloween. These devices promise they will provide “peace of mind” to parents otherwise terrified because their kids (even teens) are out in the world, unsupervised. Dear Free-Range Kids: As the mother of two teenagers I can appreciate how […]
. From poison candy to prowling predators, we keep confusing Halloween’s “spookiness” with actual dangers to our kids. Having scared ourselves to death, we then insist on making the the day ever more supervised. How far overboard can we go? Here’s a wonderful piece by Anat Rubin at The Marshall Project, titled, “This badddahnta is […]
