> "This other parent let their nine-year-old ride the subway by themselves." Well, I think that's a bad call too, but who cares?
Whether that's a bad call depends on the child and the nature of the subway. When I was 12, I travelled by train through the country for 4 days, planning my own journeys, visiting musea and relatives. Not every 12 year old would be able to do that responsibly, but I was sure I could do that, and after checking that I knew my way around a train schedule, my parents agreed.
9 is younger than 12, obviously, but if it's a fairly safe subway, and it's just a single trip, dropped off at one end, picked up at the other, and the child is familiar with subways and comfortable traveling alone, I see no real problem.
The parent we're talking about here famously let their 9 year old ride the MTA anywhere in NYC, kicking it off by dropping her kid off at Bloomingdales and then assuming he'd eventually make it home (which involved a bus transfer).
Whether that's a bad call depends on the child and the nature of the subway. When I was 12, I travelled by train through the country for 4 days, planning my own journeys, visiting musea and relatives. Not every 12 year old would be able to do that responsibly, but I was sure I could do that, and after checking that I knew my way around a train schedule, my parents agreed.
9 is younger than 12, obviously, but if it's a fairly safe subway, and it's just a single trip, dropped off at one end, picked up at the other, and the child is familiar with subways and comfortable traveling alone, I see no real problem.