DD started taking metrobus to school in 5th grade, at age 10. I encouraged her to smile at the driver and other people at the bus. Soon she had a whole community looking out for her. One time a bus broke down and she called me on her cell to come get her. A few times she missed her stop and had to walk back along the bus route. It was a great confidence-building experience for her, and I am glad we did it, even though I could have fairly easily arranged to drive her instead.

I grew up in DC and began taking metro alone home from school in 5th grade.

As others have said, you'll want to do a few dry runs, both with your kid & letting your kid try it alone. You'll also want to talk through some possible scenarios -- what to do if a creepy person sits by you, what to do if you miss your stop, etc. But a short trip on a Metro line should be well within the capabilities of a 10-12 year old.

I'm going to sound like a dinosaur, I know, but starting when I was 10 or 11 I would take the bus home all the way across town (the 30-buses from Wisconsin & Mass to Eastern Market). Some days I traveled with my friend who lived near Union Station, and we'd take the N-buses to Dupont and then transfer to the Red line.

That was a while ago, but things have not changed much in terms of safety -- some of the neighborhoods I travelled through are actually safer now, and the risk of non-parental abduction hasn't gone up appreciably.

OP, my oldest is 10 1/2. Reading the posts here makes me realize I should step up our/their game. Do folks think there are additional precautions when a tween/young teen takes the bus? One difference is that the bus does not operate in the quasi-hermetically sealed environment like Metro. For example, once while riding Metro I witnessed a young kid (8-10) get separated from his family by the closing doors. I was underwhelmed by the Metro workers response to it, but they did appear to communicate between stations about it. Once a kid is off the bus, that's it. There are few to no dispatchers who could be of assistance.

Really common in DC. Lots of charters and out of boundary.

ThatSmileyFaceGuy wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My question is Why is she going to school SO far from your home?

Not OP but most likely private school

It could well be private, but many DC area public school students travel much farther than this for charter MS and HS's or application HS's. There are also plenty of students whose in boundary MS or HS would require a metro trip. For example, students commuting to Deal from Woodley Park would probably take the train, although that's 2 stops instead of 3.

Anonymous wrote:My question is Why is she going to school SO far from your home?

Not OP but most likely private school

My question is Why is she going to school SO far from your home?