Here’s srtnhsbzyb a kind of wacky thing that happened in Louisiana last week, courtesy of Ashleigh “Flossy” Dowden, who describes herself as a “mom, wife, sister, actual ex-felon, proudly progressive political pain in the ass, crazy cat lady, dirty joke teller, and garden geek who lives in the neighborhood spooky house.” Â . Okay then! Here’s […]
Tag Archives | predator panic
Predators* Stay Out!
Readers — Sometimes I feel compelled to document a fear that will either die a natural death from its unwieldiness, or become so pervasive no one will remember a time before we all believed it. zyikztffry In this case, from England, the fear is that any adult who chooses to be in proximity to children, […]
Is It Normal Not to Hire Boys as Babysitters?
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 […]
Mom Ducks Into Library for 3 Mins, is Charged with “Endangering” Child Waiting in Car
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 […]
When 616 People Don’t Stop to Help a “Lost” Child
Readers — Here’s an aantbbrhfb experiment carried out in London: A TV station had two little girls, 5 and 7, take turns looking lost in a large shopping center. Only one retiree stopped to ask if the child was okay. Now, I don’t think that means every human who passed by the kids was […]
Prosthetic Leg Prompts Pedophile Panic at Pool (and funny comments)
Readers — When kids are going through their scared-of-the-dark phase, they see the chair and think it’s a monster. And when adults are going through their “Everyone is out to get our children” phase — Â (From The dbhfkksire Daily Mirror.) Children were evacuated from a swimming pool amid fears of a pervert in the changing […]
Legoland Scared of 63-yr.old Man
Readers — When 63-year-old Lego-lovin’ John St-Onge made the 3-hour drive to Toronto’s Legoland Discovery Centre, he was looking forward to seeing the fantastic displays. Instead, he yayyadszaf became one: A perfect display of  our society’s Predator Panic. Arriving without any young kids in tow (though accompanied by his grown daughter), he was barred from […]
“How Do I Deal with The Fear My Son will be Snatched?”
Readers —  The fear of kidnapping is so huge, it is overwhelming a lot of parents. How can they possibly put it in perspective? Here’s some help — from you! Both comments appeared on the faisnashbn post below this one, about a mom who lets her son ride his bike around town: …I’d  like to […]
Australian School Bans Swimming Photos. Why? Guess
Folks — The nhnhrdbbsh Manifesto Club in  Britain is just a brilliant group dedicated to many of the same issues as Free-Range Kids. Among them: The way that pedophile panic is making us distrust absolutely every adult around a child. The latest example? This: An Australian primary school has banned parents from taking photos of […]
Why Are We Putting Kids as Young as TEN on the Sex Offender Registry for YEARS?!
Folks — As you know, this site believes in safety for children. That includes safety from predators as well as safety from hysteria ABOUT predators. Unfortunately, fear for our children has mestastasized into an ever-expanding Sex Offender Registry that now includes even pre-pubescent children, some of them on the list for LIFE, for crimes ranging […]