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Kelsey Gentil
Jennifer Rodrick
QS 115
7 December 2016
I Think Id Leave My Kid
In the short story Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone by Lenore
Skenazy, she talks about how she let her son come home from Bloomingdales on the subway all
alone. Lenore didnt see a problem with letting her 9-year-old come home because she knew that
she could trust him. Sometimes we think to ourselves, when we have kids at what age we should
let them be on their own right? Meaning letting them be free, be more alone on things on a
regular basis (walk home alone from school or going to places by themselves). Well I think that
there comes a time when you know, your kid can do it alone. Because you know they're going to
make the right decision and not be stupid. I can really relate to this because when I was about
around the same age my parents started letting me walk home from school. I didnt live as far as
this kid probably went home from bloomingdales, but I feel like my parents thought and felt the
same way that Lenore did. I believe that Lenore did nothing wrong, except teach her child a
lesson but also because he had be begging her to leave him somewhere and find his way home on
his own. Sometimes parents tend to sort of trap their kids making them want to rebel and do
things behind their backs and thats when problems lead to other problems. And thats when
society has the habit to blame the parents.
Every so often some parents set crazy regulations and sort of trap their kids and
thats when that's when they want to start sneaking out, do things they arent supposed to and
start breaking the rules that are set for them, rather than when there is a kid, whose parents let
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them sort of be more on the free side, they are more smarter, and think twice before they do
certain things. I also want to relate this back to my childhood, because when I was smaller I had
a friend that lived in my apartments and her parents were really strict with her, since she was the
only child. She had certain standards to follow that didnt really allow her to be outside, with her
friends. But my parents werent really strict with me because they knew I wouldnt make dumb
decisions, so theyd let me be more on the free side as you can say. After awhile of this
happening she started to sneak out just to be outside and hangout with me and other friends that
lived in the apartments as well, I felt as she wasnt doing anything wrong but just being outside
with her friends and having fun. She would then get in trouble for literally just trying to hangout
with her friends. My parents would see that as a bad example because she had no fun, she
couldnt be outside with her friends enjoying her childhood but instead, be locked up in her
home. Throughout the years, the decisions she made affect her because of her parents rules. She
then later on in Highschool started to rebel with her parents and got pregnant.
For Lenores 9-year-old kid, this wasnt a loss but a gain. It is just a lesson learned for
him, to know how to navigate himself around places if hes ever stranded anywhere or lost, hed
know how to get home. Yes it can be a scary feeling having the thoughts, if hed actually make it
home safe or if someone would actually kidnap him, but as she also stated ...I trusted him to ask
a stranger. And I even trusted that stranger not to think, Gee, I was about to catch my train
home, but now I think Ill abduct this adorable child instead. This is actually kind of funny, to
have that thought that you would trust a stranger to help the kid get home safe and not abduct
him, and well thats exactly what she did. And honestly I found nothing wrong with that, because
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all she wanted was to have her child experience the real life, the way it feels to navigate
yourself with the necessities that are provided for you to get around the community.
When things happen to kids we always tend to blame the parents. We never think of the
way the child actually thought of things or viewed the world through his eyes. Many kids that
commit things they shouldnt we think of oh the parents didnt raise him right or he wasnt
taught whats right from wrong, but actually most of the times it is never really the parents fault,
just the kid in general, the way he/she thinks. As Lenore Skenazy states These days, when a kid
dies, the world - i.e., cable TV - blames the parents. Its simple as that. Sometimes you cant
really protect your child from certain things occurring, but the only thing you can do is let them
experience the nurture of the rights and wrongs. We cant always blame an innocent parent if
they didnt even cause the problem. Many people would view Lenore as a crazy mother letting
her child come home from a long distance alone, but she trusted him to do the right thing. I dont
think we should blame the parents if either the child if going to have his/her own thoughts.
As a result, I feel she did nothing wrong, she trusted her kid with being more free, but
also teaching him a lesson. She taught him how to be alone, and also get home from the subway,
with the guidance that only he can get, without feeling trapped with strictness and rules. Others
might think that wed be crazy leaving our child ride the subway alone, but you know what its a
lesson learned, yes maybe something could have gone wrong but trust is what matters. Having
your kids under lock at home, without learning anything can be also a bad thing, because they
can feel as if they are trapped and cant go out, explore their surroundings without getting in

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trouble. So I think mothers should actually start to think of maybe letting their kids get out more,
and do things like Lenore did with her child.