Is It Just Me?: Let's Stop Scaring Our Kids

no way!! if ever i will have a child, I will not let him/her go alone because thats too scary. maybe what happen to that kid is just pure luck but we never know what is going to happen without adult supervision. the world is soo big.

I am absolutely impressed. I mean, I'm a father in Metro Manila, Philippines and though I have never been to New York, I know people who've been there, including the present Consul General of the Philippine Consulate who is a fraternity brother. It can indeed be pretty scary. But children are smarter than we think, aren't they? I notice that in my son. At around three years old, he knew which door of the hotel floor to open and I said, how on earth did he do that?

At age 9 I was riding my bike on the shoulder of the highway heading to the library. I walked to school across a 4 lane highway. I'm just fine for it. My son now walks that same highway to the library. We live in a bubble-wrap society these days, and it's sad to see kids too scared to walk to the corner alone. These kids will be leading our country some day...Heaven help us.

As a Mom of 3, ages 18, 13, 10, I have taught my kids "self sufficiency" since they were able to walk. I see nothing wrong with what this parent did. She knows her child. I see too many "velcro kids" out there clinging to their parents. News flash for those parents, they're still going to be clinging well up into their 20's and 30's.. You're raising scared and lazy children.

Way to go! Teaching your children to get around and be self sufficient, teaching them to be aware of their surroundings, you're gonna have one well-adjusted young adult who will not be dependent the parents or anyone else when he/she is an adult. How many of you complaining "parents" know how to use public transportation yourself??? All you "helicopter parents" are going to reap the "rewards" of your parenting skills when your adult children are still sitting on your sofa waiting to be searved

Times have changed, no matter how you try to sugar coat your son's experience. I have 5 children ages 5 - 15 and my 15 year old is the only one who can walk 3 blocks by herself to catch her school bus in the morning and walk 3 blocks back home. Even she is not safe as 3 grown men tried to seduce her into their car one morning. Thank God for good neighbors who watch out for my daughter. And like the other woman commented, if a pedophile had grabbed your son, you would be singing another song!

There was a report where I live of an attempted kidnapping by a woman putting on a lone ranger mask on before approaching a child. After a week, it was only a child's imagination probably fueled by a parent teaching them the over-blown fear to avoid strangers. Most children on those Have You Seen Me postcards are pictured with an estranged parent. About 90% of people ignore evaluating the chances of something really happening and go from their emotions. 50 years ago a study of what peo

It is natural for parents to want to protect their children, no matter how old they are. I am a slightly handicapped adult that has to stay aware of my surroundings for my own safety but also get odd looks from some parents that view all strangers as dangerous. This is part of a trend to create fearful children that grow into fearful adults. There are other issues related to this fear such as efforts by some to raise restrictions instead of teaching better decision making skil

I grew up in an urban neighborhood with a very old fashioned mom and dad. I was still allowed to ride my bike to school and the local grocery store almost 10 city blocks away at the age of 8 or 9. Educate your children in what to do if they do get lost and who they can trust and then give them some room to learn what freedom is. I love my kids enough to empower them. I'd like them to know common sense, and I don't think knowing how to get home on your own is a bad thing.

Interesting to read her interpretation, but 9 years old, remains in my opinion too young to be negotiating the city alone. 2 kids together, maybe. Had anything happened, God forbid, you would be singing a different song. I'd like to hear John Walsh's opinion from America's Most Wanted. Paranoid? No, I don't think so. A child has parents for a reason and 9 is closer to being an embryo than say 21.