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April 11, 2008

Lenore Skenazy: Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone

Here’s an article about a mother who let her 9-year-old son take the subway home, across New York City. If your first thought was “Oh my god! Is she insane?!”, don’t worry, it’s not your fault. You’ve just been brainwashed by years of “Tragic Event TV”.

The problem with this everything-is-dangerous outlook is that over-protectiveness is a danger in and of itself. A child who thinks he can’t do anything on his own eventually can’t.

I think she has a point though; we only ever hear about the “bad stuff” and not the thousands of time that nothing happens. I think kids these days are losing more and more of their freedoms due to this over-protective trend.

Give it a read.

EDIT: She has a few more comments in this podcast.

Posted by Aaron on April 11, 2008, 3:39 pm permalink top | general

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2 Responses to “Lenore Skenazy: Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone”

  1. AugustClo, on April 22nd, 2008 at 11:06 am wrote:

    :o My 9-year-old kid would not take the subway by himself in NYC :o but I understand what she means and she is right about the “over-protectiveness” stuff. However, it is hard to let someone you love risks his/her life whereas you can prevent him/her from being hurt. I would opt for smaller stuff to let my kid room to grow up or I would at least have a look on him: letting him find the way home but being here just in case :)

  2. Juggling Mike, on April 23rd, 2008 at 9:56 am wrote:

    So you would stalk your child all the way home?
    That’s pretty creepy! ;)

    Child: I keep on thinking I see mommy behind me.
    Father: Mommy is always watching…

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