Lenore Skenazy
Latest Articles
Halloween gore decor is scaring kids to death — as adults take over
Kids today lack freedom already — and then on Halloween, the one day of the year we let them roam, they’re lunged at by monsters dripping blood.
Cellphones don't just harm kids but parents too
New York City is on the verge of banning cellphones in schools because too many students are addicted to their screens. Several Long Island school districts are suing social-media companies,...
Parents: Kids CAN be left alone for a few minutes
Conventional thinking dictates that children should never be left alone — even for a few minutes. But this thinking is not only irrational, it increases anxiety in kids while needlessly...
How a miracle tool enables severely autistic kids to communicate for the first time
An amazing — and controversial — teaching technique called Spelling2Communicate or “S2C” is just starting to gain acceptance. It isn’t easy. Learning it can take up to a year. But,...
Parents should let kids live like the characters on ‘Stranger Things’
The Netflix hit “Stranger Things” stars a bizarre, otherworldly species. And no, I’m not talking about Demogorgons or demon birds. I’m talking about kids who ride bikes, solve problems, and...
Helicopter parents need to stop treating kids like luxury tourists
It’s been two years of intense togetherness on top of two generations of ever-increasing parent-kid time.
Coronavirus is providing the course correction kids desperately needed
Silver linings are hard to come by, but maybe this could be one. With the cataclysmic coronavirus upon us, it is just the tiniest bit possible that, in terms of...
'Good moms' are expected to give up all their freedoms
Kim Brooks is a modern-day, middle-class mom, which is to say: She worries about getting it right. As her own mom described her over a game of bridge: “She worries...
Why parents are more paranoid than ever
Utah just became the first state in America to pass the so-called “Free-Range Parenting” bill, named for the movement I founded. It declares that parents can’t be arrested for negligence...
Get a grip, crazy moms: Your kids won't get kidnapped at Ikea
Are children really being snatched from their mothers at Ikea stores by sex traffickers undeterred by crowds, cameras and the siren song of Swedish meatballs? No. But if you’ve been...
Do sex offenders have a right to free speech?
When Lester Packingham beat a traffic ticket a few years back, he couldn’t contain his joy. He went online and wrote, “No fine. No court cost, no nothing spent. Praise...
Grown-ups' new schemes to ruin Halloween
Can we please try to remember that Halloween is a holiday and not the invasion of Normandy? The way parents are told to prepare for the festive event, you’d think...
Bogus 'sex offender' labels are ruining lives
What’s the most common age of sex-offenders? It’s not a trick question, but unless you follow this stuff closely you’ll almost certainly answer wrong. In fact, most people are shocked...
How Pokémon Go is bringing people together
Aaron Burrell and his three friends took the N train to its last stop in Brooklyn Tuesday night. It was 3 a.m., and they were playing the game that is...
The app trap: parents, don't spy on your kids -- let them grow!
Today’s kids get all the freedom of furloughed felons. Take a look at a slew of kiddie-surveillance devices on the market. Parents are being told to keep track of their...
Forget the car: Young adults are opting to use their feet
Call it the Back-Seat Rebellion. Helicoptered kids who spent their childhoods ferried from school to playdate to soccer are now young men and women voting with their feet .?.?. by...
If you see a kid alone in a car, don't call the cops
Parents should be allowed to decide if their kids are safe or not. After all, they care more than anyone. And yet, the state Senate just voted to take that...
Our unfounded obsession with safety is costing us our freedom
As you inch your way through security at the airport, you’ll be relieved of your penknife and terrifying tube of Pepsodent. Your unopened can of Coke will, of course, be...
The media is making parents hysterical
If you watched the Oscars on Sunday night, you learned that there are two very scary things in the world. (Three if you count Heidi Klum’s dress.) 1. Grizzly bears....
The joys of sleeping on the subway
New York may be the city that never sleeps, but that’s because it’s the city that naps. We do this on the train. Subway shuteye could be the secret to...