<p>Calmom, I do think it is different for kids in an urban area than in a rural one. In an urban area, kids go into the city on their own all the time and for me to let my kids do that alone in NYC would be a very big deal as they never do it. And I know my younger one is about to LIVE there…my my my…but I guess that is gonna be part of college and so I will live with it. But it is clearly not her way of life here. In a rural area, kids must be DRIVEN and I DRIVE a LOT!!! So, when I think about it, they were always supervised…I drove, they got to their activity and someone was supervising that, etc. Not that much time was all on their own. They went away every summer to camps and programs since very young (no problems) but while that fosters independence, there are still adults present. I found that the big “break” came when they got their license and then all of a sudden, they were truly going places on their own (but had to call). This was a good transition to the bigger time block on their own in college, I thought. But given our area, a kid really has to be driven to and fro until she gets her license and thus, she is not really traveling even for the day or hour all alone. When my older child went across the country and to Europe on supervised trips, they let the kids do some things on their own for a couple hours at a time as long as they were with other kids and my older D loved that because it was rather novel for her. And now, of course, she is completely on her own in college and is just fine. But the region you live in does affect some of this discussion, I agree. </p>
<p>And Momsdream mentioned somewhere about the kids who have and o this or that where she lives and I am familiar with what she is saying cause my friends have friends in other states who do certain things and have certain things but it is very very different than their friends and what is the norm here in rural Vermont. </p>
<p>Just listening to how these kids are all flying here and there for their senior trip…kids for the most part here, would not have the money to do that…some would but a majority would not. Many also work. </p>
<p>So I do appreciate parents like you and Momsdream as having different experiences as you guys live in urban areas. My kids’ friends who are from more urban areas do do some things my kids did not in high school but some of it was a reflection of what is the norm here and just how kids get around here. Ya need wheels here. </p>
<p>Susan</p>