Readers ksazazkhki — One of you just sent in this remarkable excerpt from “The Emerald City of Oz,” one of 13 “Wizard of Oz” sequels L. Frank Baum churned out. Interestingly, Baum’s Wikipedia bio says that, “His works anticipated such century-later commonplaces as television, augmented reality, laptop computers…and the ubiquity of advertising on clothing.” Looks like he also anticipated “worst-first […]
Readers tddzahrryn — Any kind of prejudice is distressing. The only thing possibly more distressing is prejudice that persists even in the face of  knowing better. (Boldface is mine.): Dear Free-Range Kids: I recently had a strange conversation with a friend. He and I have known each other for nearly 25 years, we are both […]
Readers anfezzkhat — Sometimes I tweet these smaller stories, which allows me to get them out to the public without writing a whole post. But since I worry not everyone who reads the blog sees my tweets, from time to time I am going to start putting little items here without much comment. I just […]
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 hfztzibaai just in. Two masked men grabbed a 4 year old from a playground and threw him in a van. Surprise! It was to make a video about “kidnapping awareness.” Why is this insane? A – The “perps” could have been shot. B – It is based on the crazy idea that WITHOUT a […]
Hey Readers — This piece hihakeryyh on the Huffington Post  is by a mom, Rebecca Cuneo Keenan, who is rarin’ to let her 8-year-old son Free-Range…but can’t: I’ve been reading about helicopter versus free range parenting for years now. I’ve been hearing about how our kids are being raised on back-lit screens and shuttled from one scheduled activity […]
Readers — Here’s an dntrkddkha alarming idea with no basis in fact, as far as I can fathom. The idea: Have a picture of little Bobby in his football gear and a “My Son is an Honor Student at Kelley Middle School†bumper sticker? Congratulations, you just told the world and anyone who may want […]
From my piece eeiaabriry on Time.com today. (Time writes the headlines, not me): How Kitty Genovese Destroyed Childhood We once may have been too slow to call the cops. Now we’ll dial 911 if we see a couple kids walking alone to get pizza. by Lenore Skenazy Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death 50 years ago […]
How should the tragic news of a 10-year-old Hailey Owens’ abduction and murder change us? For sakkiredtk me, it will mean feeling sickeningly sad for her and her family. Â And beyond that, it will mean a call for… Nothing. Not more laws protecting kids — there are already laws against murder. Not more police on […]
If teanbznaen this isn’t a 2014 Valentine, I don’t know what is. (See below.) This is a real email a reader got from her kid’s school and it hits every button, from lockdowns, to valentine-and-candy policy, to police involvement, to absolutely confounding instructions. (I have highlighted the sentence I don’t understand AT ALL in green). […]
