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Kids and parents enjoy more freedom under Utah’s new ‘free-range parenting’ law.

I was on a mission to buy sparkly blue eyeshadow with my babysitting money.  

I was in the sixth grade. I thought sparkly blue eyeshadow was cool. But most notably, nobody batted an eye at a 12-year-old babysitting or walking alone half a mile to the drug store.

Fast-forward 30 years and a totally typical scenario from my latchkey childhood feels risky — at least to some people.


Parents have been arrested for letting their school-aged children play in parks alone, CPS has intervened when kids were found walking alone, and some parents have even had the authorities called on them for letting their kids play alone in their own yards.  

This kind of “helicopter neighboring” sounds way over the top to a certain kind of old-school parent. To others, though, it may seem perfectly reasonable to be concerned about children walking around unsupervised.

Utah is the first state to put its foot down and legally allow kids to get a little free-range.

In March, Gov. Gary Herbert signed the “free-range parenting” bill into law after it passed unanimously in the Utah House and Senate. Going into effect on May 8, the Republican-sponsored bill limits the definition of child neglect, exempting various activities children can engage in safely without being supervised by an adult.

The Utah State Capitol building. Photo by George Frey/Getty Images.

The law allows for “a child, whose basic needs are met and who is of sufficient age and maturity to avoid harm or unreasonable risk of harm, to engage in independent activities … ” Such activities include letting children “walk, run or bike to and from school, travel to commercial or recreational facilities, play outside and remain at home unattended.“

What a “sufficient age“ might be isn’t specified, leaving the judgment to individual families.

The basis of the law is that parents shouldn’t be punished for letting their kids experience childhood.

The bills co-sponsor, Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, told ABC News:

“Kids need to wonder about the world, explore and play in it, and by doing so learn the skills of self-reliance and problem-solving they’ll need as adults. As a society, we’ve become too hyper about ‘protecting’ kids and then end up sheltering them from the experiences that we took for granted as we were kids. I sponsored SB65 so that parents wouldn’t be punished for letting their kids experience childhood.”

Lenore Skenazy signing her book “Free Range Kids.” Photo via Elizabeth/Flickr.

The term “free-range parenting” used by the bill comes from a relaxed parenting style made famous by New York mother Lenore Skenazy.

In 2009, when her son was 9 years old, Skenazy let him take the subway home by himself, setting off a firestorm of both criticism and praise. She wrote a book, “Free Range Kids,” defending her encouragement of her children’s independence.

Now, clearly not all parents would feel comfortable letting their 9-year-old use public transportation in a major city by themselves. I know I wouldn’t have — nor would any of my kids have even wanted to at that age.

But I do shoo my children outside to play without worry.

The pendulum swing toward helicopter parenting appears to be swinging back, which is (probably) a good thing.

The 24/7 news cycle and virality of social media stories have created a sense of paranoia in parents — and society at large — when it comes to kids and safety. I’ve never been one to wax nostalgic about the “good old days” of my childhood, but in this particular area, I do think we’ve become a little ridiculous.

I mean, calling the authorities when you see a child playing in their own backyard?

[rebelmouse-image 19346768 dam="1" original_size="700x400" caption="Photo by Nicolas Michaud/Flickr." expand=1]Photo by Nicolas Michaud/Flickr.

The fact is that American kids as a whole are actually statistically safer now than at any time in our history. We may hear more scary stories, but that’s due to the nature of technology, not the nature of the world. It’s OK for kids to walk to school, play at the park, or stay home on their own whenever parents and kids decide that they’re responsible and ready for it.

Perhaps others states should follow Utah’s lead so that parents, who know their kids better than anyone else, can feel comfortable loosening up the apron strings a bit. And hopefully nosy neighbors will catch a clue from it as well and stop calling CPS every time they see a school-aged child unattended.

If we want our kids to learn to fly, we have to allow to them to stretch their wings — and we should be able to do that without worrying about getting in trouble for it.

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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Family

Pediatrician shares two simple tips that could save a child's life at a pool party

"The more folks present, the safer the pool is, right? Wrong."

Photo by Ash Dowie on Unsplash

If there's a body of water anywhere, a designated adult needs to have their eyes on it.

It's that time of year when the weather across the country is warm enough for families to enjoy outdoor barbecues, picnics and pool parties. That means it's also the time of year when tragedy will strike a certain percentage of families who get blindsided by how quickly and easily a child can drown in a backyard pool, even when they're surrounded by people who care about them and their safety.

We've all been at a gathering where adults are coming and going, chatting, setting up food, taking trips to the bathroom, all while kids are busy playing in the water. In such scenarios, it's easy to assume that someone else is keeping an eye on the pool.

But as pediatrician Diane Arnaout has shared, the harrowing reality is that the more people there are at a pool party the more likely it is that a child could slip into the pool or become distressed in the water without anyone noticing.

In a Facebook post that has been shared more than 77,000 times, Dr. Arnaout wrote:

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Drew Barrymore speaks during the FLOWER Beauty launch at Westfield Parramatta on April 13, 2019, in Sydney, Australia.

Drew Barrymore, 48, has been in the public consciousness since she starred as Gertie in 1982’s mega-blockbuster, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. So, it makes sense that many people of a certain age feel as if they’ve grown up with her.

Now, she’s an even more significant part of people’s lives as the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which runs every weekday on CBS.

On May 25, the show’s Instagram page posted a touching video of an off-the-cuff moment between Barrymore and a fan during a taping of her show. In the clip, Barrymore realizes that someone in the audience is crying. So, instead of ignoring the fan, she jumps to action to see what is the matter.

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Pop Culture

Musician uses traditional Chinese instrument to create hypnotic cover of 'Hotel California'

There are literally hundreds of covers of this song floating around on the internet, but this one has its own unique flair.

Moyun/Youtube

Moyun peforms "Hotel California" on the guzheng.

The Eagles' hit song, “Hotel California,” has been covered countless times over the years by a variety of artists, including the likes of Nancy Sinatra, the Gypsy Kings and that guy at your local karaoke spot.

And while every rendition gives the song a fresh dynamic, one musician with a penchant for mystery has transformed the rock n’ roll staple into something entirely new.

Using a traditional Chinese string instrument called a guzheng, Moyun plays the song focusing mostly on its two guitar solo arrangements, creating a sound that has all the otherworldly beauty of an ancient folk tale.
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Pop Culture

Man rewatches shows from his childhood and his recaps of the bonkers storylines are priceless

Rob Anderson's hilarious recaps of shows like "Mighty Ducks," "Beethoven," and "7th Heaven" might make you wonder how they got made in the first place.

@hearthrobert/TikTok

These plots makes zero sense.

While there are no doubt some timeless classics from our childhood that remain every bit as amazing as we remember, many are straight-up cringey upon a later viewing. Really, it’s to be expected as societal viewpoints change…sort of a marker of how far we’ve collectively come.

And so, what do we do with these problematic pieces of old-school pop culture? Well, we can certainly update them to better reflect a more modern attitude, but that also comes with a set of potential problems. Or we could simply never watch them again. Certainly an option given all the content out there. But then we might miss an opportunity to better understand what seemed to work for the mainstream then, and why it doesn’t work now.

And then there’s the third option—allow ourselves to be entertained by their cringiness.

That’s certainly the route taken by Rob Anderson. Over on TikTok, Anderson has taken ultra-popular movies and television shows from his childhood and given them hilarious recaps capturing how absurd some of the storylines are.
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Joy

Woman decides that she is the love of her life and marries herself at her retirement home

“I said, you know what, I’ve done everything else. Why not?”

77-year-old woman decides she's the love of her life and marries herself.

We joke about marrying ourselves or a platonic friend if some arbitrary amount of time has passed without a proposal from an imaginary suitor. And sure, some people do wind up marrying a friend in more of a business arrangement, but it's not very common that someone follows through with marrying themselves.

Dorothy "Dottie" Fideli, decided that she was going to break the mold. The 77-year-old sat down and thought about all of the things she had done in life and who was with her the entire time cheering her on. It was an easy answer: herself. She was her biggest cheerleader, the person who always showed up and the love of her life, so Fideli made the plan to marry herself.

On a beautiful May day, friends and family gathered in the O’Bannon Terrace Retirement Community, where Fideli is a resident, to witness the ceremony.

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