Readers, surely, not every horrifying event begs a Free-Range analysis, but I did want to say one thing about the Boston ahznbnshds Marathon bombings. Beyond simply expressing my disgust and sadness, I’d note that, like so many tragedies, this one was absolutely unpredictable. No one attending did anything remotely ill-advised or imprudent, yet some found […]
Tag Archives | parents
Watch as a School becomes a Prison!
Readers bnntrbzain — I just got off the phone with a mom in Pennsylvania whose tiny school district has allotted 0,000 for new security measures without even knowing what it will spend the money on. This district dropped about 10% of its teachers last year for lack of funding, but it is so freaked out […]
Feeling Safer? Some Maryland Schools Say Parents Can Only Push Own Kids on Swings
Readers — I’m not going to make this a long post, because the craziness is pretty obvious and I think there will be an uproar against it. Suffice to say some Maryland ykzhyhahre schools have outlawed (at least for the moment) hugs, homemade cupcakes and parent volunteers pushing any child other than their own on the […]
Do Today’s Parents Protect More Because they Love More?
Hi nezhhtirtd Folks! Here’s a question that resonated for me — and an answer that did, too. Both appeared in recent comments. – L. Dear Free-Range Kids: Having killed time on my pm commute reading the comments on the Seattle blog about local schools going on lockdown due to a thief in the neighborhood (don’t […]
Seattle Schools on Lockdown Because a Thief is in the Neighborhood
Readers fbbnzebtea — Just another note from the frontlines of our freaking-out country! Got this yesterday: Â . Dear Free-Range Kids: I found this story, currently going on in my greater neighborhood as I type this, incredibly alarmist. A little background: I live in a nice, average neighborhood in Seattle. We have a neighborhood blog […]
Is Helicopter Parenting Actually Abuse?
Hi Readers! A couple of you sent in this provocative piece,  “Three fshdfeaddf Huge Mistakes We Make Leading Kids…And How to Correct Them.” It’s  by Tim Elmore,  a writer/speaker specializing in leadership. His philosophy about what kids require to become confident, competent and, well, leaders dovetails remarkably with Free-Range Kids’. After warning parents that children […]
Don’t Give Your Kids the House Keys Till They’re 16?
Readers — As we continue to document the infantilization of young people, including how and why this trend began, here’s a  bright trail to one of the culprits: The insurance industry. Remember, insurance has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking all freedom and  responsibility away from minors. If kids were all in […]
Helicoptered Kids More Depressed as Young Adults
Readers rtndtnbfdy — I don’t like hopping on every new study that supposedly “proves” something about parenting, especially when I believe that parents are only one part of the many, MANY influences that shape a life. (Especially by college age!) Still,this study might interest some parents reconsidering the heap of “help” they believe their kids […]
Now More Parents are Driving their Kids to School in Holland, Too
Hi Readers — Fear is a virus. It spreads from country to country, infecting age-old traditions. The latest evidence of this is the fact that more and more parents in the Netherlands are driving their kids to school. The result? Or, rather, results? 1 -Â More traffic. 2 – Kids less adept at riding their bikes. […]
Are Today’s Kids So Much More Delicate? Save the Dennis the Menace Train!
Hi Readers — One of you just sent edehsashfr this Facebook page about plans to stop letting kids play on this fabulous old locomotive located at the Dennis the Menace park in Monterey,California. The reasons? Take a guess. I’ve dropped a note to the activist running the FB page, haven’t heard back yet and wanted […]