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What Happens When a 5-Year-old Walks Somewhere Alone
The story of a 5-year-old who wandered away from home is going viral today for a wonderful reason: The cops did not arrest the parents!
In Jacksonville, Florida, a 5-year-old named William managed to leave his family's home and fully fenced-in yard one recent morning and walk over to the local Chick-fil-A. Alone!
Whereupon the employees couldn...Read more
Phones are Changing Our Dreams -- Literally
Our dreams are getting more boring, and believe it or not, the reason is ... phones.
So suggests Adam Haar Horowitz, a dream researcher with a whole lot of academic heft behind him, including a PhD from MIT and Harvard. Now he's living in Sitka, Alaska, to be closer to indigenous Americans who have long set more store in their dreams...Read more
Hello! I'm Your New Best Friend: AI Barbie!
According to a Reuters article, "Mattel has teamed up with OpenAI to develop toys and games with artificial intelligence. ... The company ... plans to 'bring the magic of AI to age-appropriate play experiences.'" ...
BARBIE: Hello, my new best friend. I'm Barbie. What's YOUR name?
AVA: It's Ava.
BARBIE: Ava. That's a nice name. What is your ...Read more
Who's Really Addicting Kids to Their Phones?
Kids love staring at their phones so much they don't want to do anything else, right?
An explosive new Harris Poll finds that that is an urban (and suburban and rural) myth. What kids ages 8 to 12 REALLY want to do is hang out together in real life -- with no adults hovering and no screens.
They go online because that's the only ...Read more
How the Etan Patz Case's Legacy Is Changing
On May 25, 1979, 6-year-old Etan Patz was taken from his school bus stop in Manhattan and never seen again. A few years later, he became one of the first missing children whose face appeared on milk cartons.
His story has haunted Americans ever since. In fact, after I let my 9-year-old ride the subway alone, there were folks who said, "How ...Read more
When a Kid Doesn't Want to Go Outside
As some readers of this column may have noticed, I keep gently reminding (or perhaps the word is hectoring) parents to step back to allow kids to step up. But what if a kid doesn't WANT to step up ... or even get off the couch?
This happens often enough that I'm reprinting the note from a mom worried about this. She wrote to say:
"My son loves...Read more
This Vacation, Don't Treat Your Teens Like Toddlers
Americans may take family vacations, but they just can't seem to escape their fears for their kids.
When a new University of Michigan/C.S. Mott Children's Hospital survey asked parents if they'd let their teen stay in the room while they went downstairs to eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant, the majority of parents said no way. Nor would ...Read more
Take Me Out to the ... Never Mind
The season of the minor league ballgame is in full swing, and so are the minor league promotions. Here are some of the less popular ones.
-- Strained Groin Day
-- Usher Autograph Night
-- Free Pretzel in Every Beer: Save money! Save digestion time!
-- LIVE Bat Night: Wear a scarf!
-- Extra Marjoram Madness: Marjoram sprinkled on any ...Read more
Don't Let the Fear of Bullies Ruin Your Kid's Summer
If you're over 35, you probably remember playing outside till the streetlights came on. But today, a lot of parents worry that if they let their kids play the old-fashioned way -- spontaneously, unsupervised, with whoever's available in the neighborhood -- their children will be bullied by kids older than them.
Here are some ways to put those...Read more
