Signing My Kid Into and Out of School is Like Getting a Visa to North Korea
This comment was in response to yesterday's post about making kids anxious about unlikely dangers. It will resonate with anyone who ever had to sign in to their kid's school as...
Another False Alarm News Story: The Kidnapping That Wasn’t
Ready for a ridiculous kidnapping false alarm news story? The city of Brighton, England, went into a panic when a witness told police of a possible child abduction at the...
Ithaca Declares Itself First Free Range Kids Town in the U.S.
It's happening! Folks fed up with underestimating kids and over-estimating danger are doing something to give kids (and parents!) back their independence. So, Ithaca, NY, home to Cornell University and...
About Those Needles Found in Halloween Candy This Year
The day after Halloween a reader named Brian wrote: Dear Let Grow: Help!! I've attached a link from our local "news" about a parent who brought her kids to trick-or-treat...
On "No More Helicopter Parenting: Let Grow Support Group" a reader wrote: I can't with the Halloween scare tactics. One local urgent care center is offering to x-ray kids' candy...
“Your Kids Could Die in 20 Seconds in the Car Alone”
The book "How Fear Works" is a gripping account of how we have come to think that whatever could POSSIBLY go wrong (no matter how extremely unlikely) has an actual...
Trick-or-treating is something kids did safely on their own for decades. But society is morphing this delightful childhood tradition into "dangerous encounters with strangers." Every town seems determined to come...
Daycare’s Helmet Rule Takes Playground Safety to a Whole New Level
If you could go back 50 years, you'd see almost no kids wearing helmets as they zoomed around on bikes. So who knows if, 50 years from now, bareheaded kids...
A Let Grow Project Success Story: Patchogue-Medford Schools
Michael Hynes, superintendent of Patchogue-Medford Schools in Long Island, believes in the Let Grow Project. All seven elementary schools in his district participate, with incredible results. Soon, the middle schools...
Mom Investigated for Letting Her 8-Year-Old Walk the Dog Speaks Out
Corey Widen, mom of two in hometown of Wilmette, Ill (and neighbors with my friend since middle school -- who was NOT the person who called the cops!) writes this...
So many parents ask, "How can I help my anxious child?" It's not surprising, considering the statistics: According to one study, nearly a third of adolescents suffer from an anxiety...
Why are kids getting anxious -- so anxious that a CDC survey found 32 percent of teens reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness? NPR asked two authors who turned...
