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Parents in America are too overprotective, in my country parents would send their kids to get groceries at age 8 or 9.
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Originally Posted by leoliu
parents are getting overly protective and fussy about their children safety nowadays.
believe it or not, despite the scary crime reports here and there, nyc is probably much safer than ever in its history.
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Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant
Seriously? Does your child ever leave the house? My parents let us take the LIRR into the city and then the public transit at HS age, in the 1960s, when it was ratty.
Percentage wise, you are right. But a child is such an easy target that I don't fault any parent for not letting their kids out alone until their mid teens. Most parents in the US feel that way, which means the kids that are allowed out are even bigger targets since there's less of them
My husband and I are at loggerheads on this issue. The daughter in question is almost 16, and the trip would be on a NYC bus, 20 minutes total with one transfer, during daylight hours (anywhere between 3-6pm) in a reasonably safe neighborhood. She wouldn't have to cross any streets. I am fine with it, he is not.
I was taking public transportation alone (not NYC) at age 15 and NYC public transportation at age 17. He was taking NYC public transportation alone from age 12 or 13. But I guess these days parents are more protective??
thanks for your input.
A 16 year old who is mature enough should be allowed to take public transportation within reasonable safe areas within NYC.
I had to take the public bus to and from junior high school and high school, starting at age 9. I was allowed to take the express bus to Manhattan by myself starting at 15, and then the subway at 16 (I was starting college by then so I really had to). This was in the North Bronx in the 1970s.
I started riding subways alone at 8! This was during the 70s! Rode from my godfather's house in Crown Heights (shuttle at Park Place) to church in Sheepshead Bay! (D, M, Q to Neck Road or Sheepshead). I got an early jump on how to use the subways, and the experience gave me a great sense of direction!
With that said, I would not advise anyone to ride that young! However, kids are riding subways to school at pre-adolescence! (age 12, which was when I rode to junior high school).
16 should be a very good enough, and well over an old-enough age, to ride the subways. As a precaution, always ride in the conductor car. There's no guarantee nothing would not happen, but being near the conductor gets you quicker help if something does! Good luck!
I started taking the bus when I was 11. My school was not in a very good area, but by the time you're 11 you have basic knowledge of not getting yourself into bad situations
Parents in America are too overprotective, in my country parents would send their kids to get groceries at age 8 or 9. This was late 90s/early 00s too, Moscow was much more dangerous back then
I was walking to school 2 miles each way from age 7 on up... but that wasn't in a city.
Well I'm glad to see I'm not crazy for thinking my teenage daughter should be ok on an MTA bus. But as has been mentioned the "after school" crowd can get rowdy though this daughter has never been a target of any kind of hostility.
I was walking to school 2 miles each way from age 7 on up... but that wasn't in a city.
Well I'm glad to see I'm not crazy for thinking my teenage daughter should be ok on an MTA bus. But as has been mentioned the "after school" crowd can get rowdy though this daughter has never been a target of any kind of hostility.
hostility exposure for a kid's emotional/mental growth is equivalent to germ/vaccine exposure to a kid's immune system, timing is important. you can insulate a kid from germs in a pathogen-free cage to avoid getting sick, but you know that you are really depriving the kid of developing a healthy self-defense system that will benefit them life long. learn to let them grow naturally and do not hold them back unnecessarily.
Got my first school subway pass in the 5th grade. Back then it was a piece of paper with some sort of hologram on it.
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