* * * * * It's a wonder we survived this long as a species > “Free range parenting” is all but illegal [1] and childhood is a completely > different experience these days. > > ... > > Our children have been enveloped in this softly padded culture of fear, and > it's creating a society of people who are fearful, out of shape, overly > cautious, and painfully politically correct. They are incredibly > incompetent when they go out on their own because they've never actually > done anything on their own. > > When my oldest daughter came home after her first semester away at college, > she told me how grateful she was to be an independent person. She described > the scene in the dorm. “I had to show a bunch of them how to do laundry and > they didn't even know how to make a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese,” she > said. Apparently they were in awe of her ability to cook actual food that > did not originate in a pouch or box, her skills at changing a tire, her > knack for making coffee using a French press instead of a coffee maker, and > her ease at operating a washing machine and clothes dryer. She says that > even though she thought I was being mean at the time I began making her do > things for herself, she's now glad that she possesses those skills. Hers > was also the room that had everything needed to solve everyday problems > [2]: basic tools, first aid supplies, OTC medicine, and home remedies. > Via Instapundit [3], “The Last Rebels: 25 Things We Did As Kids That Would Get Someone Arrested Today | Zero Hedge [4]” They can't even make a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Sigh. The free range kids are going to eat the other kids alive. Not that that's a bad thing. Of the list of 25 things we used to do as kids, I've done most of them (not playing ``dangerous games'' like dodgeball---I was smart enough to avoid that as the other kids were out for blood) but really, nothing in that list is out of the ordinary. I'm blaming the 24-hour news cycle for this. [1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470574755/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8& [2] http://www.theorganicprepper.ca/dorm-room-preppers-the-next- [3] https://boston.conman.org/ [4] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-19/last-rebels- Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org .