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My 11 year old spent a week in Washington DC and he and his cousin (12) rode the Metro (rapid transit system) alone to a bunch of places like the zoo. Cousin has been doing it since age 11, apparently.
It's just interesting to me that on one side of the coin, there are 12 year olds who don't go outside without "a parent in the vicinity," or aren't allowed to bike to a neighborhood park alone, and on the other there are 12 year olds navigating public transit by themselves. I wonder what's better for the kids in the long run...
My youngest and the neighbor kids I mentioned above took the local city bus home from middle school from 6th-8th grades. It was good for them. With my oldest, I was in a carpool, and that was the Devil's work. I said "never again".
Our neighborhood is very busy. Kids definitely play around here. With my daughter I worry about crossing the street the most. I don't hesitate letting her go with people though, because I know most of the families around here. She's 6. DS is only 3 so I prefer to be with him in the backyard.
I assume by age 12 I won't have an issue as long as they stay in the neighborhood. At 16 they can drive / use public transportation and go anywhere they want before 10PM.
My 11 year old spent a week in Washington DC and he and his cousin (12) rode the Metro (rapid transit system) alone to a bunch of places like the zoo. Cousin has been doing it since age 11, apparently.
It's just interesting to me that on one side of the coin, there are 12 year olds who don't go outside without "a parent in the vicinity," or aren't allowed to bike to a neighborhood park alone, and on the other there are 12 year olds navigating public transit by themselves. I wonder what's better for the kids in the long run...
When I lived in the city I would regularly see kids as young as 8 or 9 on the city buses by themselves. Once when I was taking the long distance bus from my town to the city a little boy, around 9 or 10 came on by himself, he was headed to Helsinki which involved changing buses as well. Kids here seem to be more at ease navigation public transport than I am!
I am still see plenty of kids outside here in Indiana.
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