In the Washington region, cars speed through school zones and blow through stop signs. I had to consider that before giving my kids an answer.
When I showed them to my sons on a recent morning, their mouths opened in a quiet gasp. Then they hugged me. They liked the designs, but more so, they liked what those keychains represented: a chance at some independence. They knew those small gifts meant I was considering letting them walk home from school alone this year.In previous years, that was never an option.
But in preparation of this year, my husband and I made the easy and difficult decision to transfer them into public schools in our neighborhood. Easy because it would simplify our days. Difficult because it meant they would have to navigate new routines and new spaces without the familiar faces of their friends around them.
They are understandably nervous, and truthfully, I’m nervous for them. I have mentally repeated more times than I can count in recent days the words all parents of new kids say when they think about how other kids will already have cliques and BFFs —I can’t control the friendships my children make. But I can control how much independence they have, and this year they have expressed a desire to have more.
It’s a question that should have an easy answer, and maybe if we lived in a different time and place it would. But in the Washington region, drivers regularly speed through school zones and blow through stop signs, and that makes deciding when a child is ready to walk alone to and from school far from easy.
I suspected that before my children were old enough to ask me that question. Now, I empathize with all the parents who have had to weigh the uncertain calculations that decision brings.When I attended middle school in Texas, I was a latchkey kid. I took two public buses and walked a block to get home. Most days, I opened the front door with my key, but I tended to forget it at least once a week. On those days, I would climb through a kitchen window and hope the neighbors weren’t watching.
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