Reply to What age to ride public transportation alone? Different ages for boys vs. girls?

Forum Index » Tweens and Teens

Reply to "What age to ride public transportation alone? Different ages for boys vs. girls?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I see mostly HS aged kids on the metro alone.[/quote]

I think some of the posters here are pretty naive. Harassment on the street and on public transportation is real and common, particularly for teenage girls and young women. It's easy to forget about this or dismiss its significance when you're headed toward middle age.

My daughter (9th grade) travels by bus and metro alone and with friends. She's harassed on a fairly regular basis by teenage boys and also by older men. She always aims to sit next to a woman rather than sitting next to a man or alone, but this isn't always possible, and she's had to switch seats several times to avoid harassment. She's even had to get off the bus before her stop at least twice because she's felt uncomfortable but there hasn't been a place close to the driver. She has a good "leave me alone" face that she can use, and she always uses earbuds because it dissuades some men from even trying to bug her, but some men are persistent.

Personally, I wouldn't be thrilled about letting a middle school aged girl ride the bus/metro alone unless I had talked to her often about this stuff and felt like she was confident enough to stand up for herself and/or remove herself from potentially threatening situations.[/quote]

Just so you know, I watch out for girls like your daughter. I've reached in and hauled girls away from skeevy looking men. I've said to men "She's TWELVE; are you flirting with a CHILD?" (I automatically knock 2-3 years off whatever age I think they are to shame the men) I loudly ask "Is that man harassing you?" [/quote]

Thank you!!  I remember being harassed as I walked down the streets in mind-town Manhattan in the 80s with high school friends.  I specifically remember one many following my friend and I commenting how 'sexy' our ankles were as it was winter.  BLACH!   For the life of me, I can't understand why men feel their behavior is appropriate.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics