Messages By: maricia

 The Mother who gave her 9 yr old money and left him to find his way home via the NY subway should have been arrested for child endangerment.  That action is way more than teaching your child independence. It is a wonder he does not suffer from nightmares every time he goes to sleep.  Thank goodness he was not abducted or hit by a automobile.
I am a  64 yr old  Mother and my husband and I  have raised 3 children. I was a fairly strict  parent but gave them freedom appropriate for their ages.  They were not left alone unsupervised, before they were 11 or 12 yrs old and then only for a few hours, usually after school. Even then, I was  a phone call away and  made sure they called as soon as they got home. No friends were allowed over before my husband or I got home.  They were not allowed to date before they were 16 and they were always required to tell us where they were going and with whom. They also had a curfew. They were required to make their beds every morning and had other  house chores to do for which they  were given an allowance.
Today they are all well adjusted, educated,  working, and living in their own homes. They respect us, their firends, and co-worker's. They are in their 30 s and as independent as one can be. They learned it gradually as they were given age appropriate freedoms and responsibilities. My  husband and I were raised the same way.  That's is how we knew it would work.