13 year old on the metro

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you choose not to let him do this, please do not explain that metro is too unsafe or that he is not old enough- you don't want him to feel it is an inherently unsafe activity.

I'm the pp you quoted. Yeah.... Terrible things happen. I don't mean to make light of any tragedy.

OP here,

DC's been riding the metro and metrobus for about a year and a half to various red line destinations, and I'm confident that I'll let DC ride there, it's just home that I'm unsure about, so I definitely won't be communicating that metro in general is unsafe.

The "new" dimensions are riding after dark, and changing trains.

[Anonymous]

What time would he be coming home?

[Anonymous]

He could leave either at 7 or at 8, depending on whether he took 1 class or 2 back to back. We'd probably make the decision day by day based on homework load.

The whole trip home, including the walk, should be about an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you choose not to let him do this, please do not explain that metro is too unsafe or that he is not old enough- you don't want him to feel it is an inherently unsafe activity.

I'm the pp you quoted. Yeah.... Terrible things happen. I don't mean to make light of any tragedy.

OP here,

DC's been riding the metro and metrobus for about a year and a half to various red line destinations, and I'm confident that I'll let DC ride there, it's just home that I'm unsure about, so I definitely won't be communicating that metro in general is unsafe.

The "new" dimensions are riding after dark, and changing trains.

Pp with the daughter who rode after dark here. I can see your worry about your son riding at night. You can always role play with him what he would do if he ran into trouble. But I'm surprised about worrying about him changing trains. That seems pretty straightforward. Maybe you could do it with him once and walk him through it.

I will say that I would have been a little more concerned about my kid changing at Gallery Place, because that's a place that teens hang out and on occasion there's been trouble there. My kid changed trains at metro center which is not a hangout for kids at all. So, to be absolutely sure you could have your son take the blue line (assuming it's a station on blue and yellow lines) and change at metro center. But that might be a longer ride, so that seems like a lot of trouble. Well, ultimately, OP, you have to do what you feel comfortable with. You can always work your way into having him come home alone on metro later. Good luck with your decision!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you choose not to let him do this, please do not explain that metro is too unsafe or that he is not old enough- you don't want him to feel it is an inherently unsafe activity.

I'm the pp you quoted. Yeah.... Terrible things happen. I don't mean to make light of any tragedy.

OP here,

DC's been riding the metro and metrobus for about a year and a half to various red line destinations, and I'm confident that I'll let DC ride there, it's just home that I'm unsure about, so I definitely won't be communicating that metro in general is unsafe.

The "new" dimensions are riding after dark, and changing trains.

Pp with the daughter who rode after dark here. I can see your worry about your son riding at night. You can always role play with him what he would do if he ran into trouble. But I'm surprised about worrying about him changing trains. That seems pretty straightforward. Maybe you could do it with him once and walk him through it.

I will say that I would have been a little more concerned about my kid changing at Gallery Place, because that's a place that teens hang out and on occasion there's been trouble there. My kid changed trains at metro center which is not a hangout for kids at all. So, to be absolutely sure you could have your son take the blue line (assuming it's a station on blue and yellow lines) and change at metro center. But that might be a longer ride, so that seems like a lot of trouble. Well, ultimately, OP, you have to do what you feel comfortable with. You can always work your way into having him come home alone on metro later. Good luck with your decision!

I'm not worried about the changing trains, just that he hasn't done it. I know the red and green lines well, but don't ride yellow or blue much at all, because no where that we go regularly is on the lines. In fact, until your post it didn't occur to me that King Street could be on both lines.

The after dark part is what worries me, but I'm not sure why. I probably wouldn't think twice about him being on the metro at 7 in the summer because it's "light", but I'm not sure why that matters to me in an indoor setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not worried about the changing trains, just that he hasn't done it. I know the red and green lines well, but don't ride yellow or blue much at all, because no where that we go regularly is on the lines. In fact, until your post it didn't occur to me that King Street could be on both lines.

The after dark part is what worries me, but I'm not sure why. I probably wouldn't think twice about him being on the metro at 7 in the summer because it's "light", but I'm not sure why that matters to me in an indoor setting.

They are all the same. Just go over the map with him and make sure he understands which way to board and how it works. Not a bad idea to do it with him or a friend once. If you do it together, you can even get him thinking- which car would make sense for me to get on to be closer to my exit? Get him to take some ownership of it. He will be fine.

I know what you mean re:darkness. Darkness just has that connotation of night and danger. But 7 or 8 or 9 is different than 11 or 12. I promise.

[Anonymous]

If my child was mature, I would not have an issue with it. I might pick him up at the metro depending on what time he gets home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not worried about the changing trains, just that he hasn't done it. I know the red and green lines well, but don't ride yellow or blue much at all, because no where that we go regularly is on the lines. In fact, until your post it didn't occur to me that King Street could be on both lines.

The after dark part is what worries me, but I'm not sure why. I probably wouldn't think twice about him being on the metro at 7 in the summer because it's "light", but I'm not sure why that matters to me in an indoor setting.

They are all the same. Just go over the map with him and make sure he understands which way to board and how it works. Not a bad idea to do it with him or a friend once. If you do it together, you can even get him thinking- which car would make sense for me to get on to be closer to my exit? Get him to take some ownership of it. He will be fine.

I know what you mean re:darkness. Darkness just has that connotation of night and danger. But 7 or 8 or 9 is different than 11 or 12. I promise.

Thanks! To be clear, I know that the Yellow line isn't totally different from the Red. But I know the Red line well enough to know that it's not deserted at 8. Not sure what King Street station in particular is like at that time, because I've never been there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'm surprised at all of these responses - NP here. How far are you from FH metro? If anything pick him up There, although that is highly unnecessary to me. Though I am also a new yorker who began riding the bus and train by myself at 10 or 11 and by 13 I was going an hour each way on two different trains.

The trains are NOT deserted after rush hour (these posters just probably don't ride enough to know). You can tell him to avoid the first and last car, which are less full. Teach him exactly how to go and hell be fine.

I cannot believe how over-sheltered children are now. How on earth do you expect them to become self-sufficient?

Me too. Until Etan Patz. That changed everything for my parents.

My children are younger, but I can't really imagine letting them ride the Metro by themselves. Then again, I see tons of kids getting off the Tenleytown metro each morning to go to school - I assume Deal? They must be 13 or younger?

Like the PP mentioned Etan Patz was six. I started riding the NYC subway at 12 (female) and yes, with 2-3 transfers and late at night after practice. I think he'd be fine but then again once it's time for my child to start going alone I'll be a nervous wreck.

I am the pp you quoted. I don't mean to make light of any tragedy, but etan patz was 6, and this is why you try to prepare yourself and loved ones to be smart, secure responsible citizens. We cannot avoid all danger in life. This is how I feel. I think not allowing a thirteen year old to ride the metro alone, at least before ten pm, is too overprotective. Of course that is ones parenting choice.

OP, if you choose not to let him do this, please do not explain that metro is too unsafe or that he is not old enough- you don't want him to feel it is an inherently unsafe activity.

I'm the pp you quoted. Yeah.... Terrible things happen. I don't mean to make light of any tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'm surprised at all of these responses - NP here. How far are you from FH metro? If anything pick him up There, although that is highly unnecessary to me. Though I am also a new yorker who began riding the bus and train by myself at 10 or 11 and by 13 I was going an hour each way on two different trains.

The trains are NOT deserted after rush hour (these posters just probably don't ride enough to know). You can tell him to avoid the first and last car, which are less full. Teach him exactly how to go and hell be fine.

I cannot believe how over-sheltered children are now. How on earth do you expect them to become self-sufficient?

Actually, I am one of the posters who wouldn't do it after rush hour - turns out, I am from Brooklyn and stand by what I said. No, the trains aren't deserted, but they certainly aren't that crowded heading IN to the city. OUT is something else. I know lots of kids that age who ride the metro to and from school. They don't ride home from activities at 7 on their own. They get self-sufficient slowly over time and for my money, 13 is too young to transfer trains at 7:30 at night.

[Anonymous]

Just tell him not to show an iPhone or iPod or something similar. It's becoming for teens to snatch these from teens and run. Otherwise, not a huge deal if you feel he's responsible enough.

[Anonymous]

We can agree to disagree then. I lived in DC for years (not there right now) without a car so relied on metro 100%. From my experience any line would be sufficiently busy at that time. But then my standards could differ from yours or OP.

[Anonymous]

I think unless you've been young and alone on Metro you may have no idea how much creepier it feels. Riding as an adult has been a completely different experience.

[Anonymous]

NP here. I grew up in Chicago and was taking the El independently, with transfers, by 10/11 or so. (Definitely not at night, though.)

I'm new to the area and only an occasional Metro rider here; there aren't live conductors, are there? When I was a kid, I always rode in the car with the conductor, for safety. If that's an option for your son, that would be a good thing, but somehow I think it's not.

[Anonymous]

There will be non-dangerous people riding at 7 or 8. Just tell him to ride in the middle car, not the end cars.