And Now We Bring You The Apocalypse!

Hey Folks — Look at this illuminating list of what constitutes “news,” at least according to the Minnesota Associated Press guidelines for reporters, as posted on the blog Business Insider and first reported by Libby Reinish on savethenews.org. Note that train wrecks, airplane crashes and drownings are news, as are car crashes if there are “multiple victims [...]

Outrage of the Weekend: Student Suspended for “Bloodshot Eyes” After His Dad Dies

Hi Folks — Read it and weep, but not too hard or you may get suspended from school! Two days after a 16-year-old Texan’s dad died, he decided to return to school to feel a little normal again. Except when he arrived late and went to the office for a tardy pass, the admins noticed [...]

Help This Mom Save Recess!

Hi Readers — Here’s a plea for some great ideas from a mom whose “excellent” public school has killed recess. Has your school tried this, too, and realized its folly? If so, how did it come to its senses? Or is your school considering this and you, too, are trying to figure out how to [...]

Stuffed Animal Blown Up by Bomb Squad

Greetings, Readers, from the land of the free, home of the — YIKES! A stuffed animal! Perhaps you’ve heard this story: Yesterday, a stuffed-animal about 2 feet high standing near a school caused imaginations to go wild in Orlando (where you’d never, ever expect to see a large, fake animal). It was a pony-shaped thing [...]

PIN Numbers for Tiny Pre-School?

Hi Readers! This woman needs our help devising good arguments to bring to her pre-k’s PTA. Over to you! — L. Dear Free-Range Kids:  I’m a regular reader of your blog and love to hear your input and that of your readers on Free-Range issues. Well, my Free-Range issue came up while I was at [...]

Welcome, Wall Street Journal Readers!

Hi Readers — All of you, including the new ones who caught my piece in today’s Wall Street Journal. It was all about the fact that so few kids are walking to school these days — about one in ten. And here’s a note that sums up the whole craziness: Dear Free-Range Kids:  My son [...]

I’m So Proud!

One of my sons — I had to swear I wouldn’t tell you which — got 8th place in summer bowling! Out of  how many teams? Well, I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, but it was a single digit number. Naturally he got a trophy! P.S. For the record, the [...]

Note From a Non-Free-Range 16-Year-Old

Hi Readers! This cautionary note just in: Dear Free-Range Kids: I wish I had been raised Free-Ranged. What parents don’t seem to realize is that when your parents are constantly hovering, it’s like being told No You Can’t every single day. I am sixteen years old. I am sixteen years old, I don’t drink, I [...]

Mom of Boy Picked Up By Cops for Walking to Soccer TRIUMPHS!

Hi Readers — Here’s an INSPIRING story about what we can do when life hands us paranoid neighbors, officious cops and maybe a lemon, for good measure. Let’s hear it for Lori LeVar Pierce, the small town mom and teacher we first heard from in 2009 when she let her son walk to soccer and [...]

Recent Tweets

Hi Readers! Here are some of my recent Tweets you might enjoy. Have a great weekend! — L *Hey, cool! Comic strip about letting kids go to the park by themselves! (And mom plotzing): http://bit.ly/9TOgBE *Poignant, wacky, trite: Parents’ advice to kids going off to college. Actual quotes: http://bit.ly/9N3ard *”Want to Win Custody? Become a Helicopter Parent.” [...]