<p>I had just moved to NYC when he disappeared, and although I was a college student and childless, I was really conscious of how shocking this was for families everywhere in the city. It was a trauma that really effected and changed how everyone raised kids in the city. In a way, it changed life in the city more than anything since then, even arguably 9/11. And the rest of the country too.</p>
<p>I agree, mousegray. I was not in NY then, but the story was still shocking. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be his parents. It was so weird to hear that Etan would have been 40 this year.</p>
<p>I heard that the parents never moved from their apartment…just in case. </p>
<p>I pray that the parents get some peace. I know that Etan’s disappearance set the tone for future generations. We parents were so much more careful (maybe too much so at times) with where our children went and with whom.</p>
<p>I feel the same way, ellebud. That case haunted me. I’m sure the parents have wished a million times that they hadn’t allowed him to go to the bus stop alone. Every time my kids’ independence is increased, I’m ambivalent - happy at their increased confidence, hoping that I won’t be that rare parent who lives to bitterly regret it.</p>
<p>When I was a kindergarden-aged child, I was allowed to walk a lot further than 2 blocks alone to school.</p>
<p>When I was six I walked myself to school (NOT two blocks) and across a busy no light intersection. I walked to a major street and took the bus four miles and walked…alone (and in the dark on my way home) to after school activities.</p>
<p>I do remember a lady in a gardening hat who was always outside when I passed by. We never spoke, but we nodded hello as I passed. It didn’t occur to me then…but I suspect that she was watching out for me.</p>
<p>I completely agree. When I was a child, I went everywhere by myself or with friends, and there were no concerns. When my children were young, we handled things exactly opposite – there always had to be a responsible adult nearby.</p>
<p>I was 13 when Etan disappeared and it had a huge impact on me. My son is 13 and walks to school about a half mile away straight down one street with one traffic light. He walks one way and I walk the other to my express bus. If I don’t have a text from him that he has arrived safely before I get on the bus, I call him. The one time he forgot his phone at home I called the school when I got to work. He was embarrassed, but too bad. The rule in our house is that I have to know he has arrived at school.</p>
<p>Zoosermom- I’m right there with you. My son is a junior in college and of course goes off campus for one thing or another. Even at his age, I’m like don’t be walking back to campus late at night by yourself.</p>
<p>I was in college when Etan disappeared, but growing up in NYC I took the public bus across town to school by myself starting when I was 10. My mother was somewhat overprotective, but even she saw nothing wrong with that, and this was in the late '60s when NY wasn’t the mostly very safe place it is today. His disappearance did indeed change things drastically.</p>
<p>DH and I moved back to the NYC area one month after Etan disappeared. I remember this being on the news on a daily basis for months. When it was back in the news this week, I immediately knew it happened in 1979. Some things stay with us forever.</p>
<p>I was 14 years old and living in Manhattan when he disappeared. It definitely scarred my mother. I think we will all be relieved if they can put this case to bed.</p>
<p>Remember it like yesterday, i was a young adult at the time, and was haunted by the fact it was the first time his parents allowed him to walk by himself</p>
<p>I was recently married and living in Brooklyn Heights. Many of my friends were already having babies or had young children and it was terrifying for all of us. I know that I always grieved for the parents and how sad their lives must have been. How poignant that they never changed their address or phone if he were alive and able to phone home all these years later.</p>
<p>Yes, I can’t imagine what his parents must be going through now, after so much time, to have to re-live it again. Although if this can bring some closure, or at least a resolution to the mystery, that would be good. </p>
<p>I walked to school from the time I was 4 years old (although this was the suburbs). Even in NY, kids played outside without adult supervision. I heard a native NYer say today that playgrounds used to be full of kids without adults, that they were always crowded, but after Etan Patz, they got emptier because parents stopped letting their children go by themselves.</p>
<p>I was in grad school and remember it vividly. That said, I really tried to let my kids have the independence I had had growing up. I rode horses alone in the bush in Somalia. And rode my bike alone everywhere at 8 or 9. </p>
<p>The fact is most kids are abducted by friends or relatives of the family. It looks like it may be the case this time too.</p>
<p>My elementary school was at least 3/4 mile from our house. We usually walked as a group. We also had crossing guards called School Patrol back then. Teams of them were assigned a route to escort very young kids to their neighborhood. They were 6th graders who wore bright yellow windbreakers and children’s version construction crew helmets and carried long batons with a big red “stop” sign emblazoned on a banner. Clearly, such activity couldn’t exist today with adult supervision. Sad a but a fact of our times today.</p>