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The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
NY Times Columnist On Work/Life Balance: There Are "No Answers"
More Modern Dads Are Juggling The Work/Life Balance Alongside Their Wives
It's Called "Work" For A Reason
How Do You Deal With Assholes At The Office?

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IceCreamIsAwesome
12/31/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
Is this really about the kids, b/c my concern is all the child molesters who literally hunt for kids that are by themselves. If it was a group of kids I'd be cool but as far as completely solo I just feel like it's a risk not worth taking. I guess for me I just personally know too many close calls or bad endings and I grew up in a very Mr Roger's type of neighborhood.
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Her Grace
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
My mom freaked out when she saw where I regularly went alone in Melbourne. I was 22. I'm comfortable in big cities and on public transport--I find driving myself to be a lot scarier. I was allowed to roam (just on our street) as a kid, as long as I came home by a pre-set time.
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NewsBunny
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
I was chained to my bed until I went to college.

And then, of course, I WENT FUCKING POSTAL. I regret it to this day, which is ridiculous. This is what happens when a mother won't let her teenage daughter stay out past nine. Ever.
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LadySoprano is a Fat-Fighting Superwoman
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
I'll never forget being 20 and guiding my parents through London and the Tube system after spending a semester there. They were petrified, and their previously-sheltered daughter was just standing there, saying, "Follow me...try not to get lost, please..." before heading into the deep underground of London.

That's when they finally started realizing that Little Miss Soprano was now Lady Soprano.
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victoriasauce
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
There is NO WAY my 9 year old would be allowed to ride a Subway alone. Period. I have a 5 year old and drive her to school everyday when I could easily stick her on a bus and be on my way. I don't wanna. Oh well.
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Liz11685
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
This is so funny to me. We were allowed to play in the neighborhood until the streetlights came on when we were younger. My mom let me and my brother home alone by 8, and I was babysitting alone at 10, late at night even. Parents are WAY too harsh with restrictions on kids today and its turning them into lazy, spoiled brats.
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clevernamehere
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
I don't think the walking and bike riding answers contradict each other, bike riding in NYC is dangerous! I can see letting an 8 year old walk to school, but bike ride? You must be mad.
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slightlyhardup
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
I grew up in Toronto, which is really just a mini NYC. My mother was a single mom and didn't really have much of a choice when it came to me going places by myself. I was running down the street to the bakery at 7 or 8 and then taking the subway and bus to school when I was 9. She didn't like it, but what choice did she have? She would also leave me home alone when I was really sick. Even mentioning that today makes her feel extra guilty. But again, as single mom, you sometimes don't have a choice. You have to trust in your children to be responsible.

My grandmother, on the other hand, still doesn't think I'm able to walk down the street by myself since I could be kidnapped.
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PilgrimSoul
12/29/08

@slightlyhardup: I've been to Toronto. It's really not just a mini NYC. :)
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Mkp-hearts-NYC
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
My mom made me stand at the bus stop in a very specific spot so she could see me from our house up the street starting at age 9 or so...and I was taking the metro into DC alone at 14. By 18 I was roaming midtown Manhattan on my school breaks like a young hellion with half price broadway tickets.
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randomnessish
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
I grew up in a suburb in Westchester, literally 15 minutes from NYC. I was able to traverse the town as I wished, walk to school, get pizza, what-have-you, and I was also able to go into the city whenever. I think the first time I went without adults (I would always go with friends) was sometime in middle school, and I was allowed to take the subway. My parents, though, were a little more lax...although my dad would always be careful to tell me not to go anywhere outside of Manhattan.
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Breamworthy
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
Apparently child abduction rates are about the same now as they were 50 years ago... so, if kids were considered safe running around alone then, why not now? I guess there are more threats from traffic, etc., depending on where you live, but I think that it's really mostly that cultural norms have changed, not that there's any greater threat.
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Hooplehead
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
Plunk me down in the overprotective category. There are just too many sick freaks out there for me to feel safe sending a kid out alone in a city of NYC's size. The other day some sicko was leering at my *4 month old* niece in the grocery store, and it rattled the hell out of me. Like really, you're checking out a BABY? What the hell is wrong with people?
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brendastarlet is on it
12/29/08

@emilyanne: the sad thing is that I had full range of my neighborhood; went to the store, to the park, we rode our bikes, everybody walked to school, and I never worried for a minute. But this made the papers and really shook up the parents.
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RedVelvetCake
12/29/08

@Hooplehead:
How do you know he was "leering"?
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Hooplehead
12/29/08

@RedVelvetCake: Because I saw him doing it.
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msAnthrope
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
wow, my first reaction was that was some scary shit. but then again when i was 9, i felt pretty grown up and if i'd lived in a place like NYC that had subways it probably wouldn't seem so foreign to me. but suppose her son was her daughter? would she have been so cavalier about this?

my partner always tells me the story about when he was 5 or 6, his mom would give him money to take the ferry from providence to block island, and back. alone. maybe because she just wanted to have the day to herself is the reason i still think he was too young. although he disagrees!
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Evie Havok
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
I was lucky. I was chauffeured everywhere by my dad. Maybe this depends on the parents' availability?
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Aesop's Foibles. YES.
12/29/08

In reply to The Kids Are Alright On The Subway Alone
We lived in Philadelphia when I was growing up. Our neighborhood wasn't a "bad" one and we knew all of our neighbors, so sis and I were always allowed out. We knew to stay within shouting distance of our mam and she'd call us in for lunch and whatnot. We never got into any trouble or kidnapped or anything, and there were a ton of other kids in our block we could play with. I think it's a crying shame the world has become what it is nowadays that makes me suspect I'll be the worrying type when I have a litter o' youngins.
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