Reason's "Most Engaging" Stories of 2017: No. 1 Will Blow Your Mind
From defining "the fragile generation" to breaking the story that IRS won't enforce Obamacare's mandate, these are the pieces you spent the most time with.
Children
Misguided Preschool Mandate Will Cost D.C. Parents and Teachers But Won't Help Kids
All day care workers will have to get a specialized degree by 2020 or risk losing their jobs.
Don't Freak Out About Falling Fertility Rates
There's an easy way to make more Americans: immigration.
Should the Government Try to Bribe You Into Having More Babies?
Increased wealth and technological progress give people greater liberty to decide when, how, with whom, and if they want to reproduce.
No Bail for Wisconsin Cop Nabbed for Sex Chat With Teen
Snapchat and Facebook exchanges with a 15-year-old have Wisconsin officer Basil O'Kimosh facing life in prison.
Gen Z and Millennials Are Better Than Their Parents at Delaying Gratification
"A supposed modern culture of instant gratification has not stemmed the march of improvement."
Are Your Kids Too Fragile? How to Make the Next Generation More Resilient.
Lenore Skenazy, Jonathan Haidt, Peter Gray, and Daniel Shuchman launch, Let Grow, a non-profit devoted to promoting better policies for raising children.
The Fragile Generation
Bad policy and paranoid parenting are making kids too safe to succeed.
Reality Contradicts Study Linking Movie Guns to Fatal Firearm Accidents
As guns proliferated in movies, accidental gun deaths and violent crime fell dramatically.
Child Sex-Trafficking Victim Sentenced to Nearly Six Years in Prison for Child Sex-Trafficking
Hope Zeferjohn's role was limited to chatting with the "victim"-who was never actually trafficked-on Facebook.
Why Child Protective Services Should Stop Blaming Parents First
There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
The Junk Science Behind 'Smarter Lunchrooms'
A federal program to help public-school students eat healthier is based on highly problematic-and perhaps fraudulent-research.
How Backpage and Similar Sites Are Crucial in Fight Against Sex Trafficking
A new paper in the Wake Forest Law Review explores "the virtues of unvirtuous spaces" when it comes to stopping sexual exploitation.
Report on 'Children' Killed by Guns Hypes Accidents, Which Are Rare and Declining
Most gun-related deaths among minors are homicides, and four-fifths involve teenagers.
Tom Shillue Is a Mean Dad for a Better America [Reason Podcast]
The comedian and Fox News host celebrates his free-range childhood in the 1970s and what it means for his own kids.
Missouri Keeps Foster Kids in a 'Chemical Straight Jacket,' Alleges Lawsuit
A systemic lack of safeguards in how the state medicates foster children
Cops Have Lost Control of Their Sex-Trafficking Panic, and It's Beautiful
Even the police can't control human-trafficking hysteria anymore, and it could backfire for them.
Jeff Sessions Says Social Media, Encrypted Apps Hamper War on 'Modern Slavery'
These are the tools of pornographers, "sextortionists," and human traffickers, Sessions told a police conference this week.
We All Scream for the Ice Cream Man's Head
The idea that ice cream men cruise around looking for victims is simply an urban myth.
996 Sex Workers Busted in FBI's Last 'Operation Cross Country,' Says Comey
That's 332 times as many sex workers arrested in the stings as people indicted on federal charges involving a minor.
The State Wanted to Treat Her Like a 'Handmaid.' She Fought Back
Tamara Loertscher gave birth to a healthy baby boy in 2015. Then she challenged the Wisconsin law that nearly kept them apart.
Are Kids Depressed Because They Don't Just Play Anymore?
Boston College psychologist Peter Gray says a cultural shift in child rearing is having dire consequences.
'Deplorable' NYPD Officer Will Spend Decades In Prison for Soliciting Pics of Mothers Abusing Their Children
Alberto Randazzo's shameless defense: He developed an addiction to child porn after the death of his former police partner.
Dad Drops Son a Mile From Home, Goes to Jail.
Mike Tang spent a night in jail and faces a year of parenting classes and picking up trash for his choice of discipline.
Proposed Tweak to Internet Law Could Spur Seismic Shifts in Web as We Know It
A bill related to sex trafficking and Section 230 could have far-reaching consequences for web content, publishers, and apps.
D.C. Implements Oppressive Licensing for Child Care Workers at Behest of Early Education Advocates
Don't have at least an associate's degree? Step away from the finger paints, you monster.
Enough Stranger Danger! Children Rarely Abducted by Those They Don't Know
U.S. kids are no more likely to be abducted today than they were decades ago, and much more likely to be returned safely when they are.
Trump's Mythical Crackdown on Sex Trafficking
No, there haven't been an "unprecedented" number of child sex-trafficking rings busted since Donald Trump took office.
Colorado Report Says Adolescent Marijuana Use 'Has Not Changed Since Legalization'
Officials also note that reports of marijuana exposures involving children fell last year.
California Legislator Doubles Down on Dubious Child Prositution Claims
California Republicans risk being taken even less seriously.
California's Absurd and Insidious 'Bill of Rights for Children' Invites Pernicious Meddling
Richard Pan's bill reflects a busybody mindset that undermines parents and endangers children.
The Little Girls' Leggings That Pot Prohibitionist Cannot Abide
Amazon removes pants falsely accused of promoting marijuana use.
Sheriff Admits He Issued a False Alarm About THC-Tainted Halloween Treats
He still implies that strangers with candy are trying to get kids high.
Chicago Cop Arrested for Sex Trafficking and Child Porn, Accused of Paying Teens—Including Braces-Wearing 14-Year-Old—for Sex
A 26-year veteran of the department, William Whitley's record reveals 28 complaints against him, going back to 1991.
Maine's Attorney General Says Legalization Initiative Would Let Minors Possess Pot
The Question 1 campaign says the initiative clearly applies only to cannabis consumers 21 or older.
Hey, Regulators. Hands Off Child Care!
The experts want us to entrust our kids to expensive, micromanaged strangers rather than pay our friends and neighbors to look after them.
Violent Video Games Don't Cause Gamers to Stick More Pins in Voodoo Dolls
Another study finds that playing violent video games does not increase aggression
Former Latch-Key Kids Who Are Now Parents, Unite!
You have nothing to lose but your guilt! Your children won't be die because you leave them alone for a chunk of the day. Though you may be arrested, true.
Study Suggests Pot Has Been Blamed for Fetal Risks Caused by Tobacco
After adjustment for confounding variables, the association between marijuana use and adverse neonatal outcomes disappears.
Ohio Cops Release Photos of Adults Nodding Off on Heroin With Child in Back Seat
No concern displayed about child's right to privacy.
Pamela Anderson Warns That 'The Crack Babies of Porn' Are Nigh
In the Wall Street Journal, the ex-Playboy model blames online-porn for Anthony Weiner's texting troubles & kids propelled "warp-speed into the dark side."
The FBI Distributes Child Pornography to Catch People Who Look at It
By its own logic, the government victimized children thousands of times.
Can Creepy Clowns Be Stopped?
A brief recap of maudlin (and often imaginary) clowns haunting U.S. towns recently-and why police can't stop them.
