Trying to raise a fairly free-range kid in an atmosphere that wants to believe there are rapists, abductors, molesters, and murderers hiding in the bushes and on the buses is frustrating beyond belief.
I had a conversation about the safety of the public buses in Mont. Co. the other day with our piano teacher. She didn't think the buses were safe enough for an 11 1/2 year old on her own.
Having ridden the local buses often the last few years, they are safer than many other options on a variety of levels. The accidents have been few and far between and deaths haven't occurred at all. I've been sexually harassed whilst waiting for the bus (it was super late and so there was time to start chatting) but never been accosted riding the bus. I have no problems with my daughter taking the bus on her own, if she feels up to it; she still has some reservations.
My daughter has to be driven to school now because there are no county school buses that run from our neighborhood to her new school. All three of us (including my husband who takes her to school; I pick her up) are at much greater risk for injury/death from being in a car accident on the way to and from her school than we were before when I was either taking public transit the entire way or driving a much shorter distance to the Metro station and she was walking to school and riding the school bus.
Not to mention that for women, our greatest risk is in the home and around people we know. We are far more likely to be killed/raped/beat up by a relative, former sig. other, or an acquaintance than a stranger.
I try to combat misinformation but it's so prevalent that it feels like emptying the ocean with an eyedropper.
no subject
I had a conversation about the safety of the public buses in Mont. Co. the other day with our piano teacher. She didn't think the buses were safe enough for an 11 1/2 year old on her own.
Having ridden the local buses often the last few years, they are safer than many other options on a variety of levels. The accidents have been few and far between and deaths haven't occurred at all. I've been sexually harassed whilst waiting for the bus (it was super late and so there was time to start chatting) but never been accosted riding the bus. I have no problems with my daughter taking the bus on her own, if she feels up to it; she still has some reservations.
My daughter has to be driven to school now because there are no county school buses that run from our neighborhood to her new school. All three of us (including my husband who takes her to school; I pick her up) are at much greater risk for injury/death from being in a car accident on the way to and from her school than we were before when I was either taking public transit the entire way or driving a much shorter distance to the Metro station and she was walking to school and riding the school bus.
Not to mention that for women, our greatest risk is in the home and around people we know. We are far more likely to be killed/raped/beat up by a relative, former sig. other, or an acquaintance than a stranger.
I try to combat misinformation but it's so prevalent that it feels like emptying the ocean with an eyedropper.