Hey Readers — You may recall this drdsskzrst post from two weeks ago about playground equipment purchased by a Fairfax, VA, PTA from a reputable manufacturer that was installed at a local grammar school over the summer and then suddenly declared “unsafe.” Since Nov. 30 it had been wrapped up in tape of every sort […]
Tag Archives | school safety
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. […]
You Can Have My Lego Gun When You Pry It from My Cold, Dead Fingers
Hi ansbiinkbh Folks! Here’s my piece that ran in today’s NY Daily News, the paper where I worked for 14 years. – L. FUN CONTROL Guns Guns and children don’t go together, right? Well, actually, often they do. Chances are if you have a kid or ever were one (especially if there was a Y […]
School’s Playground Equipment Declared Too Dangerous Even Though it is Ridiculously Safe
Readers — If you want to watch the decline and fall of Western Civilization, check out this bsnadtnsft article in yesterday’s Washington Post about a suburban D.C. school, Stratford Landing, Â whose PTA purchased a rather cool-looking piece of climbing equipment. They bought it, Â using bake sale and other fundraising money, Â from a playground company that […]
Bullet-Proof Whiteboards for Schools. What Next?
Readers — You know what goes together better than peanut butter and jelly? (Or peanut butter and chocolate, for that matter?) Fear and money. Which explains why I think these new ddhfkfeyzn bulletproof whiteboards may sweep the nation. If I were a venture capitalist, I’d be looking around for any other common school item I […]
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 […]
School District to Spend $2.4 MILLION on Guards? A Mom Protests
Hi fbbfstibak Folks — How I appreciate this Wake County, NC, mom trying to fight the outrageously expensive security theater her school district is considering. As this WRAL  article explains:  The Wake County Board of Education is expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal to put one unarmed security guard at each elementary school in the district. If […]
Please Don’t Shoot the Bus Driver
Hi Folks — Here’s yet another sign of the times: A izrfybdidb news story about a Rhode Island school bus driver whose bus stalled in the snow. After a while the kids — a dozen middle school students — asked if they could just walk the 1.5 miles to school. Readers: He said yes! Readers: […]
Weirdest School Reaction to Sandy Hook Yet
Hi Readers — A few posts back, I khrbhiaidb asked you to send in the changes, if any, your schools were making in the wake of Sandy Hook. This one is the strangest. – L Dear Free-Range Kids: I heard from a friend today who went to her first grader’s holiday concert. Not only were […]
The School Shooting in Newtown
Readers, my heart is like yours: Shattered. My perspective, however, may be a little different. It’s impossible not to feel afraid, sad, sickened and deeply pessimistic when something like this occurs. However, “something like this” — well, there aren’t a lot of somethings like this, and that’s a truth I am desperately trying to remind […]