Lenore Skenazy, who wrote the book "Free-Range Kids" after being skewered in the media for letting her 9-year-old son navigate the NYC subway alone, weighed in today on the media frenzy over Jaycee Dugard. In case you somehow haven't heard, Jaycee was abducted 18 years ago, when she was 11, and kept imprisoned until earlier this week.

Lenore writes that parents should prepare for the onslaught of advice on how to keep your kids safe, as if we parents can prevent any and every random act of violence that could befall our children.

(Nevermind that the advice itself, as in this article, probably wouldn't have made a lick of difference in Jaycee's case.)

She says:

This is, of course, every parent’s — every human’s — worst nightmare and her story will be seared into our memory forever, along, alas, with the inevitable “advice” we’re now getting on how to avoid this same fate. Like it’s a fate we can avoid with some simple tips.

But as Trevor Butterworth at the organization STATS.org has pointed out: Preparing for very unlikely events is impossible — it’s like preparing for the possiblity of being hit by a frozen turkey through the car window while you’re driving on the expressway. Yes, that is something that really happened, at least once. But should you live your life always watching out for flying turkeys?

Read the rest of her post here.

Jen Eyer is on the Community Team at AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at 734-623-2577 or jeneyer@annarbor.com, or you can visit her at the first floor office at 301 East Liberty.