Hi ykayadfakb Folks! Here’s a great article from the L.A. Times about one of our recurring themes: The dumbing down of playgrounds to the point where they are, well, pointless. The writer, Gale Holland, reports: Last fall as state inspector strode into Great Beginnings preschool and declared the tree house and climbing structure too high. […]
Tag Archives | lawsuit
Adorable “Build-a-Choking Hazard”?
Hi Folks! As a reader named Michele wrote to me last week, “2011 wouldn’t quite be complete without wrapping up the year with another recall for the safety of our children!” She was referring to arrfkzeytd the recall of a mere 300,000 “Colorful Hearts Teddy” Build-a-Bears because the material they’re made of is “sub standard,” […]
STORIES NEEDED: Has Your Kid’s Camp Become Less Free-Range? Or Even Nutty?
Hi Folks! I’m writing a column inspired by the Maryland yyanfntsry law that was about to be enacted that would have prohibited counselors from applying sunblock to kids. The state was, of course, afraid of perverts. But when parents heard about the measure, THEY were afraid of sunburn. So the law did not go into effect […]
Bumper Car Craziness
Hi Readers! A question for you: Q: When is a bumper car NOT a bumper car? A: When you are no longer allowed to bump it. Such is the case in England right now, where three amusement parks have banned bumper car bumping, and insist that patrons who climb into the cars drive them slowly […]
Applebee's Over-reaction
Hi Readers — The other day, a toddler at an Applebee’s was accidentally served alcohol instead of juice. It’s appalling — the mom said she knew something weird was going on when he started saying “Hi!” to the walls —  but the bottom line is: The child was unharmed and this was  one single incident. […]
The Ice Lawsuit Cometh (Potentially)
Hi ykrhryedin Readers: It’s weird, isn’t it, how something as remote as litigation ends up changing REAL, daily life? But it does. This note is just a great example of what happens when we see everything in terms of a court case down the road. — Lenore . Dear Free-Range Kids: IÂ live in the suburbs […]
NEEDED: Legal Advice on Having Fun
Hi nanksdyyyt Readers — Here’s a letter I couldn’t answer. Can any of you? If so, please do! L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Regarding, “No More Playing in the Dark, Kids.” What would be helpful to know, is how we — parents, scout leaders, teachers and other carers of children — can find ways around this. […]
No More Playing in the Dark, Kids
Hi Readers — Another day, another lawsuit, another childhood institution crushed. In this bfhtzrkdti case, back in 2001 a Scout troop in England was playing a game where everyone had to grab a block from a pile in the middle of the room. Get there last and there’s no block left for you. Sounds like […]
Could School Have Prevented Injury…by a Paintbrush?
Hi Readers! This fsiatzkhhs is such a disturbing story. A Scottish boy who was 10 was painting scenery on the ground for a school play back in 2003 when one of the other painters got up, bumping into him. This caused him to fall on another student’s paintbrush, which — this is so horrible — pierced […]
OTHER Outrage of the Week: Funeral for a Swing Set
Hi Readers — Those clever folks at KaBoom, the playground people, have created a iytabdnnzd “virtual funeral” for the swingsets of West Virginia’s Cabell County. The sets died an unnatural death, after a painful lawsuit brought by the parents of a boy who broke his arm jumping off a swing. In a response worthy of […]