This is a topic covered often by commenter hskrtbtfri Donald Christensen, who points out that repetition turns into belief. So when the media repeat the same type of stories day after day — murder! kidnapping! danger, danger, danger! — our brains soak it up and eventually incorporate it as “The way things are.” This brilliant […]
More yzehkhsbeb insight from the real world about trafficking: Dear Free-Range Kids: First, I want to thank you for your crusade! It has inspired me to be a more relaxed mother & help my friends relax a little too. We are all new at this, my son is the oldest & he’s turning 4 next […]
. A couple of you have sent me this ad that is making the rounds: It dhiehtebfa was just a normal day at the mall for Jennifer Dellert… until everything went horribly wrong. Sigh. Â She had just left the mall carrying her shopping bags, and was walking to her car when the unthinkable happened. […]
. All hail The Onion and it’s “Today Now” show! As the host notes of this story, “It’s the moment that every parent with a 20-foot long snake fears most, and one you can’t possibly predict.” (Sorry about the 30-sec ad before it…which I don’t even understand): . . .
. If you can stand it, please take a look at nzrdkrsesn this article from the Sydney Morning Herald about the death of a 5-year-old boy who tripped on his pre-school’s steps. Is it just me or is the way it’s presented…sickening? The story features photo after photo of the sweet-looking child: five of them, one […]
. A tragedy occurred in Portland, OR, just a few days ago: A idydyyirad girl who went to bed after her dad’s birthday party was found dead 20 minutes later with a giant Mylar balloon somehow (the articles make it impossible to understand how) over her head. The theory is that perhaps she was trying to […]
. 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 […]
. A bunch of you sent me this feahsntrbr CNN piece about the hidden dangers (every TV producer’s favorite kind!) of hand sanitizer. While the video is about teens deliberately drinking the stuff, the written story is about Purell-pickled nippers, and that’s what I’d like to discuss today. It starts with a story that’s almost too […]
Why zktfydekni do I blame the media for making us so afraid for our kids? Because the media are to blame! Print, TV, the Internet, movies, news shows and of course viral videos — the media are all SO in love with the “Children in peril!” story that they will stoop to covering stories where […]
[brightcove vid=1777239257001&exp3=1684488549001&surl=http://c.brightcove.com/services&pubid=35121359001&pk=AQ~~,AAAACC1laJk~,tMO2d6O4mickzCfG8Kpt2wQCZRxpuzpo&lbu=http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1777239257001&w=300&h=225] Readers — Will you please watch this news report and tell me what is going on? A man in a pick-up truck calls out to a girl, “Come here” and this is the BREAKING STORY OF THE DAY? Every single cop car is ON THE CASE? The newsroom is scrambling its reporters to […]
