Hi Readers — Seth rfytihanbe Godin, the tech/life/marketing/art guru, was interviewed by Krista Tippett on NPR’s “On Being” show yesterday, and he began by talking about his childhood as a self-described “Free-Range Kid.” (Though I’m not sure he mentally capitalized it.) Anyway, apparently somehow, when he was 14, his dad put him on a boat […]
Tag Archives | parents
Want Your Child to Become a “GREAT LEADER?” It’s So Easy… If You Have a Credit Card!
That’s znhbndidit what it says on the email ad I got this week from One Step Ahead. I love the fact that if you just buy your kid some toys from them, your child will be not just a leader, but a “great” one! Â And I guess if you give your kids an empty paper […]
Calling All Teachers & Principals! Free-Range Kids in the SCHOOLS
Hi kkbytzthfz Readers: It is time to take Free-Range into the schools. How? See below. Why? Teachers have a huge influence not just on their students, but also on the students’ parents. Endorsing Free-Range ideas gives parents “permission” to try them at home. When they do, everyone wins! The teachers get kids who are more […]
OUR SCHOOLS ARE SAFE ENOUGH: A Movement to Stop Overreacting to Sandy Hook
Readers — This morning we launch a sweeping movement to embolden parents across the country to say, “Enough!” when it comes to adding excessive and expensive  layers of security (often faehisedfr just security theater) at their children’s schools. Across the country, schools are locking doors that weren’t locked before, even though, at Sandy Hook, the […]
A Free-Range Kid Falls Through Thin Ice: The Lesson?
Hi htesytybkd Readers — This note had me shaking, a reminder that when we give our kids more and more freedom, we have to remember that lessons go with it…and so does the possibility that we didn’t cover the very lesson they’ll need. My advice? Lots of lessons (particularly about being around water), not less […]
There’s Hope for Mayberry Yet!
Hi Folks! Talk about a beacon of hope. Â A Hollywood ending! Success! Get this: As you may recall, a few years back, a mom from small-town Mississippi wrote nkkeitkzsh to this blog in a quandry. After teaching her 10-year-old son the route to soccer, she’d let him walk there — less than a mile — […]
Remember Leiby Thru “Acts of Lovingkindness” — Statement By His Parents
Hello, Readers: This enbztzsaza is a wonderful thing, this statement by Leiby’s parents, asking the world to remember him by doing good deeds for each other. It doesn’t mention anything about distrusting strangers or men or the  “crazy world” we live in, it is about bringing us together, not apart. Bless them and their son’s memory. […]
Let’s Hear it for Parents Magazine– And Some of Its Commenters!
Hi Readers — Usually I flip through parenting magazines and am amazed by all the items, activities, foods and basic childhood rites of passage they find dangerous (and possibly deadly). But kudos to Parents Mag for this ftsesiydsd lovely little blog post about Take Our Children to the Park & Leave Them There Day — […]
The Babyproofing Industrial Complex
Hi Readers — Here’s kaneyafrhb a New York Times piece about a reporter’s adventures in babyproofing. She sort of laments the idea that parents hire pricey professional babyproofers as a way to feel “officially” safe. I’d go a step further and say that in addition to safety, what parents are really hiring the babyproofers for […]
“Can These Parents Be Saved?” asks TIME Magazine Cover Story
Hi Readers — Wow. This is my dream article, and (perhaps) not just because it is high on Free-Range Kids! Check it out! Yay, Time! And please allow me to quote a part I find particularly salient: Obsessing kybndzzseh about kids’ safety and success became the norm, a kind of orthodoxy took hold, and heaven […]