I recently read an article about a New York City mom who let her nine-year-old son ride the subway home alone. My gut reaction was to say what most people would, “What is she thinking?” But as I read her rationale I began to see that she was making some good points.
I recently drove through the neighborhood where I grew up and saw how far it was from the front door of my childhood home to the elementary school. I remember walking the long distance daily, navigating across busy intersections where I could have been flattened like a pancake, or traveling in neighborhoods where strangers could have snatched me up and no one would have heard my screams. The thing is, none of those horrible things happened. They could have, but they didn’t. I think most people could easily remember the autonomy we were given during our own childhoods, but would have a hard time remembering the last time we let our children experience their own “Independence Day.” (And I’m not talking about the kind with fireworks and grilled meat.)
Has the world become more dangerous or have we just become more fearful of what could happen? Were our parents just naïve or did they allow their own feelings of worry not overpower their desire for us to be independent problem solvers? While I still can’t imagine letting my children wander around our neighborhood on their own, I do wonder if all of the Kaylee Anthonys and other murdered missing children have left us overly paranoid about our children’s safety.
Question: What do you think?
Read the story or watch the video of this subway mom on the “Today Show” at
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