Flutterby™! : 9 year olds on the subway 2008-04-13 13:47:35.496198+00

9 year olds on the subway

2008-04-13 13:47:35.496198+00 by Dan Lyke 4 comments

Much linked and worth reading: Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone, and the follow-up, More From America's Worst Mom: 9-Year-Old On The Subway, Continued.

Favorite summary quote came from this SE thread:

I heard an interview with this lady on NPR a couple days ago, and she made a lot of sense to me.

Perceived vs. Actual risk and all that.

If you won't let your kid take the subway alone, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD don't drive them anywhere in a car!!!

now that "everyone" knows the kid carries $20, he WILL become a target for those kids who read on the internet...easy mark.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-04-13 19:25:53.783815+00 by: Mark A. Hershberger

polly, how do you figure that? How would they know which kid has $20? It isn't like there is just one kid riding the subway in NYC.

okay...guess that means if you look 9yo, and some woman has been bragging about her 9yo riding the subway by himself with $20, a metro card and some change, then you are at risk of getting robbed, at the least.

Lots of this is what's normal for the kid. This child probably has grown up taking the subway his whole life. It's probably his family's primary mode of transportation and literally an everyday occurrence. Should a tourist bring their 9yo and let them ride the subway alone in NYC? Probably not.

Around here 9yo's are probably walking and riding off alone into the woods on trails they've done with parents/siblings/friends on a regular basis and no one thinks much about it.

The child in NYC, for my money, is safer around LOTS of other people than the child here playing the woods alone. Predators don't like crowds, ya know.