Why are we still debating whether children under the age of 13 should be allowed to walk to and from school alone? Is keeping our children safe really up for debate? As a clinical psychologist, I often counsel victims of violent crime. Given the risks that children face in our time, it is naïve and simply irresponsible to argue, as Lenore Skenazy does in her book “Free-Range Kids,” that because we were all raised in the 1970s in a...

If what is said is true, there is clear evidence of emotional abuse and neglect. Many people think that Child Protective Services only gets involved in cases of physical and sexual abuse, but there are also categories of neglect and emotional abuse. Although it varies from state to state, emotional abuse or maltreatment is defined as a pattern of behavior by parents or caregivers that can seriously interfere with a child’s cognitive,...

Today is the Yartzeit (Hebrew word for anniversary of a death) of our second child, Ozzie. He died October 18, 2002. Our son died while in utero at 26 weeks. I still remember that cold day because my then 20-month-old son was bundled up with blankets in the stroller watching our family cry and say goodbye to a child we had never really even properly said hello to. I believed or hoped that Asher would escape the pain of the death of his little...

In this expert’s opinion, leaving an inflated balloon in the yard is no different than keeping a loaded unlocked gun in the house. Totally irresponsible parenting! Dr. Michelle Golland: I remember the Heene family from “Wife Swap.” I admit, it is one of the trashy reality shows I TiVo and watch when I can’t sleep. And watching the Heene family’s story was one of the times that I became concerned about the children...

Novelty T-shirts send a damaging message to your kid. It’s been almost a year since Caylee Anthony’s body was found, and her mother Casey has been sitting in jail waiting for her first-degree murder trial to begin. Meanwhile, those who have been following the tragedy continue to speculate on how and why Caylee met her terrible fate, shoved into a plastic garbage bag and tossed into the woods. Now what the little girl was last...

While it is becoming more commonplace for gay and lesbian individuals to raise children, finding community support isn’t so easy. Here is one couple’s story. Gina Kaysen Fernandes: Vicky* remembers the moment she first held her adopted baby in her arms. “He was destined for us. There was never a doubt in my mind that he wasn’t mine,” says Vicky, who, along with her partner, Beth*, is raising a 6-year-old boy they...