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Parenting

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    Note that conventions here seem to be highly depend on the country. Sending out a 5-year old on their own through traffic is seen as perfectly normal in Japan, completely impossible in the US and somewhere in between in Western Europe. Commented 2 days ago
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    55 years ago, when I was 5 years old, I walked to kindergarten on my own, about 1 km, every day. Every other kid did the same. It's not that kids can't do that, it has more to do with parents training/allowing kids to be independent. Commented 2 days ago
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    @GuntramBlohm Just about everywhere in the world the traffic situation was wildly different 55 years ago. Commented 2 days ago
  • "not sure what age is realistic in the current climate" is also critical. There's no single national minimum age for kids to be unsupervised; laws vary wildly by state, from as low as 6 (Kansas) to 14 (Illinois), with many states having guidelines (like 10 in WA/TN) rather than strict laws, focusing on the child's maturity, situation, and potential for neglect, not just age. Commented yesterday
  • @GuntramBlohm And after half a year of primary school, at age 6 and a half or so, I had learned to do the 30+ min commute on my own (meeting other kids who did the same on the way), including taking a crowded commuter train, a bus (not a school bus) and a walk. That does not mean this will work for all kids and societal environments. Not being able to squeeze through the crowd to get out of the train at the right spot was a fun learning experience that I still remember which incidentally led to me getting my first (non-smart) phone. Commented 12 hours ago