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Is 9 Too Young To Ride the NYC Subway Alone?
Posted Apr 7th 2008 11:25AM by Ada Calhoun
Filed under: Children, Controversy
A writer for the New York Sun described (in a much-fowarded editorial) letting her nine-year-old son take the subway alone, at his request. She gave him a map, $20, a Metrocard and quarters in case he had to make a call from a pay phone. He arrived home without incident, very proud of himself.
But when the story came out, whoo-ee, did she get in a lot of trouble. Crazy amounts of outcry greeted her. People said she was basically a child abuser. The Today Show (clip above) had her on for one of those "defend thyself in front of a sweater-set-clad child psychologist" interviews.
We have a special perspective on this, because we were taking public transportation alone in NYC in the '80s in first or second grade. So were all our friends.
Were all our parents negligent? Well, by today's standards, you bet. Plenty of them also smoked while they were pregnant and let us play with the mercury in broken thermometers. And maybe it warped us, but it did have its upside: we Gen Xers were about five billion times more independent than kids are today.
The castigated NY Sun writer explained her philosophy to Ann Curry like so: "Overprotectiveness is a danger in itself."
What do you think? Was she right or crazy to let her kid get home on his own?
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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.
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Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 3)
16. I know a 15year old who took the bus alone and was later beat up by 5 other kids and ended in the hospital. It all depends on the area.
Jan at 7:41PM on Apr 7th 2008
17. Well, I personally think it's up to the parents to decide. I don't think there would be any incident, but anyway, I don't think I'd let a child 9 years old do that alone...
marizzlezoshizzle at 6:29PM on Apr 7th 2008
18. I recommend everyone in this country (US) read THE CASE AGAINST ADOLESCENCE by Robert Epstein.
halloweenie at 9:19PM on Apr 7th 2008
19. Are you kidding? 9 yr. old ride the el alone? I fear for any child today, it isn't even safe walking to and from school, or sitting on your own front porch. When was the last time you watched the news without a murder reported? How many small kids are killed just by playing in front of their own house? And you think a 9 yr old is safe alone on the el train? Dream on!
hoteem at 9:12PM on Apr 7th 2008
20. I DO think generally that 9 is too young to be alone on the subway. However I also agree that it depends on the child. My son is 13 (and a half he says) and while he IS mature enough, I'd have problems letting him do it ALONE. It's a different world than when I was a child riding my bike everywhere with my friends. It's not the childs maturity that's in question, it's the freaks that see the child alone that I worry about. I let my son stay home alone for a couple hours, have for a couple years. But the creeps aren't IN MY HOUSE, and he knows not to answer the door if we arent there. Ultimately, you just have to decide what you can live with. I don't think the lady was neglegent to let him ride the subway alone. Just as long as she could live with the consequences if it went wrong.
Tammy at 9:38PM on Apr 7th 2008
21. The issue is not whether or not the boy could do it at nine years old--so most kids under ten should be intelligent enough to follow the directions to get from A to B, agreed. It is also NOT about whether parents coddle their children too much in our country, in this generation. Irrelevant.
The issue is that a nine year old child took public transportation alone and that society is teeming with pedophiles (registered offenders and those waiting to commit their first offenses)--predators who are looking for those vulnerable kids (i.e. kids who are not protected by parents). So, if you're looking to find what is disgusting and disgraceful about our society (besides the depraved sex offenders), it is not that we enable our children too much or that this made headlines. It's that a mother was willing to exploit her child in order to break out a controversial, attention-getting story, in spite of frequent news reports of children all over the country are being snatched up by weirdos.
I cannot even believe this is a debate.
Suzanne at 9:33PM on Apr 7th 2008
22. i was 9 years old in nyc in 1956. we were allowed to take the subway with a friend or in a group. by age 11 i was allowed to take the subway alone. the wonderful experiences and freedom i would have missed otherwise. if you are worried enroll your child in karate or self-defense classes.
petunia newman at 11:22PM on Apr 7th 2008
23. I think 40 is too young to take the subway by yourself.
Nah just kiddin'. Let the boy ride, if he can. If my mother would have given me $20 at 9, I would have gotten a lot more trouble than the subway.
mac at 12:07AM on Apr 8th 2008
24. Next thing y'know he'll be a "featured blogger"- just like Jeff Hoard! He'll be sucking on buttertarts and skittles while telling us to vote for Obama since Che is dead and Gary Coleman is too short to fly on Air Force One!
Mike at 1:24AM on Apr 8th 2008
25. I think that its great for kids to learn about independance at an early age( it boosts there confidence)Although I'm a mom and would have been very nervous Irememeber growing up in queens in the 70's and the city was a great adventure for us.
rosemccabe at 5:05AM on Apr 8th 2008
26. I don't care what you flaky New Yorkers say. 9 is too young to ride the subway alone. In this day and age of child sex rings and kidnapping, it's unnerving enough to think of. Why raise the chance of that happening.
It could never be my child!
Well yes it can be your child. Stop being an idiot. There are ways to let them assert their independence.
E at 2:27AM on Apr 8th 2008
27. I've just seen an item on the television where a woman wants to have her children electronically tagged.(good lord) why not just get a collar for the child.
rosemccabe at 7:50AM on Apr 8th 2008
28. I rode the subway at 10. We all did I think that fearfulness in this country is at an all time high. Whomever screeched about the pedophiles needs to actually do some research. Pedophilia is a very specific and rare disorder. Most of the people that pop up on your Megan's law site are indeed sex offenders, but they are not sexual abusers of children. Just because something shows up on the news doesn't make it the "norm." The boogeyman isn't everywhere. It's in your head. I can't believe this is news.
Kia at 5:22AM on Apr 8th 2008
29. This is how children dissapear. And then the mother would blame the NYC subway system and sue them. The answer is, too young.
Strados at 6:31AM on Apr 8th 2008
30. Your question: Is 9 Too Young To Ride the NYC Subway Alone?
My response: Not if you're packin' heat.
Tony Messinger at 3:23AM on Dec 20th 2009