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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??
I was taking NYC public transportation alone when I was 12, though I didn't do it regularly until high school (my high school was about an hour's bus and subway ride away from my home). But, then again, I'm a guy. Still, my sisters started regularly traveling on the subway alone when they enrolled in high school. I will caution that some of the children riding the subways and buses at peak school hours are terrors and the subject of many a youtube video. But I think your daughter would be more than fine, especially since you're talking about a bus!
I think junior high age is ok. But it depends on the kid too. Some kids just take much longer to mature. I started taking mta bus alone at junior high school.
This is such a tough subject when you think about what happened to kids like Levy Kletsky. That being said, 16 is way old in terms of being able to go places by themselves. I would say 10 and under: no way ever, 11-14: depends on the kid, 15+: no reason to worry
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
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. There are always unpredictable events like terror attacks and sporadic pathetic serial killers passing through nyc, but that would be beyond parental protection anyway.
the other day there was an asian girl falling off a roof top party in brooklyn and got killed. i bet her parents are in deep regrets for not locking her up at home to save her life.
if your child is 16 but still cannot handle a bus trip home in broad daylight in a safe neighborhood, you have more to worry about her than her safety.
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. It included the annoying change at Jamaica, The old Penn station, walking and either a bus or subway. Never had an issue.
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