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• Reputation: 6000 Q&A: 113 0 11 4226 721 3 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 6 Fnarf

  11 0 Seattle is one of the safest cities in the world. Of course they should be riding the bus alone. For one thing, at 15, many kids are starting to drive, which is a MILLION TIMES more dangerous. And, believe it or not, there are tons of kids who travel alone at 12. I would argue that learning how to travel alone at an early age makes you safer, not less safe. Learning how to get around safely means learning how NOT to get around unsafely, whereas at some point they're going to have to, and they'll be all at sea. It's easy to avoid trouble if you know what it looks like. Street smarts: there's only one way to get some. Set them some specific tasks at first: go here, and come back. Pike Place Market, say, or the mall, or school or something. Teach them how to use schedules and "One Bus Away" if they have smartphones. Encourage them to ride with friends; at fifteen, they're ready for some adventures downtown without mom and dad dragging behind them. Your kids are at much, much higher risk in remote deserted areas than anyplace with lots of people around. Despite what you might think, and what the media might suggest to you, there's more trouble to be found in deserted suburban parking lots than busy streets downtown. Really, kids are everywhere in this city if you look for them, and they're all safe as can be. Stranger abduction and all the other horror stories are exceptionally rare events; the most dangerous thing about riding the bus for a kid is not looking both ways when darting out in front of one after getting off. Fnarf answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report 2 comments by keshmeshi and cakes… 6 0 Just chiming in to say that the most fundamental rule of street smarts is to trust your gut. Tell kids that if something doesn't feel right, get away or find someone who can help. And try to encourage them not to let anyone guilt trip them over trusting their gut. I don't know how it is for boys, but throughout my childhood (and even adulthood) creepy men would often try to make me feel guilty for not trusting them (I'm convinced for extremely shitty, if not dangerous, reasons). If someone tries to make kids feel guilty for being afraid, that person deserves to be feared. keshmeshi commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 tangentially, since One Bus Away was brought up, i should mention that you don't even need a smart phone, and can make a voice call 206-456-0609, which provides an automated system to access arrival info. cakes commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 650 Q&A: 14 0 3 360 50 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 Bauhaus

  4 0 First of all, bravo on your good citizenry in trying to reduce your consumption! I should think a 12- and/or a 15-year old of any sex would be safe in most neighborhoods during daylight hours if someone is waiting for them after they leave the bus. I wouldn't let them travel alone at night until they are older and perhaps working (upper teens). Also, women are going to hate me for saying this (and it isn't always true), but young girls are still more at risk than young guys who have some semblance of physical strength discouraging the creeps out there looking for the vulnerable. You probably know the rougher parts of town. Don't let them go there after dark until they are adult enough to realize the dangers for themselves. There's no need to scare the bejesus out of them regarding traveling alone on the bus, but make sure they are well-versed in safety issues: don't talk to strangers, don't accept free rides, don't share personal information, sit up front near the driver, etc. And it might be a very good idea for them to have cell phones for emergencies when they are out on their own. BTW, many kids in many cities take city buses to school because some school districts have ceased operating their transportation systems. It's cheaper for them to subsidize bus fares for their students with discount passes and tokens. Bauhaus answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 0 I won't try to expand on the good comments already posted, but I'll just say that I started riding Metro at 9, with a 10 year old friend. We'd take the bus to the scary and alluring "Ave", where, it seemed, all kinds of magical and fantastic adult things could happen... Anyway, we survived. My friend's mom's advice was: "Don't make eye contact with random people." It served us well. Bion Satir answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 0 Thumbs up to Fnarf. He's totally dead-on. I started taking Metro - alone - to and from school when I was in 6th grade. My parents' theory was that if I was old enough to walk to the store by myself, I was certainly old enough to take a public bus to school. I never ran into any trouble, and I'm sure I was pretty conspicuous in my school uniform (skirt, knee-highs, etc.). When I was 14-15, I realized that I could put my bike on the front of a bus, and then I really could go anywhere I wanted. I had a policy to call and check in with my family (this was before we all had cell phones), and it all worked out pretty well. Granted, I was a very responsible kid by nature, but still -- it was very liberating to know that I could figure out how to get myself around without my parents' help. MyrnaMinkoff answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 My parents got sick of dropping me off at the comic book store and showed me how to bus it when I was 12 or 13. protosaurus answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 1195 Q&A: 21 0 13 542 42 3 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2 Sphinx

  1 0 I started taking the bus around by myself when I was 11. I lived in Spokane, where the buses were (and are) populated mostly by the homeless, drug addicts, and hooligan teens because the bus system is so crappy that anyone who has a job and a stable life can't count on the bus for transportation. I never had a major problem in Spokane, so I can make the educated guess that your children won't have any in Seattle, where at least half the bus riding population is made up of students and work commuters. I almost always feel safe on Seattle's buses regardless of the area or time of day simply because there are always plenty of other sane, polite, and sober folks on the bus with me. I would lay some basic ground rules- the kids let you know where they're going and when they're going to be back, they don't take the bus to areas that aren't safe or are unfamiliar to them (it can be pretty easy to get turned around on the bus if you're young and not familiar with your destination), and they don't take buses at night. Your 15 year old is probably quite old enough to take evening buses but I would still suggest that he or she only ride after dark if accompanied by friends. Before you let the kids take off on the bus system by themselves, I would give them a little preparation: Teach the kids how to read a paper schedule and get them copies of the route schedules they'll be riding the most for their backpacks (Seattle stops often have the schedules ripped down or spray-painted over). Do a "dry run" where you go with them on a single ride for the route they're going to start riding alone (home to school, for example). Run over the basics of bus procedure (when to pay, how to pay, when and how to signal you need a stop, changing seats for elderly or disabled riders, etc.).   Finally, have a quick talk with the kids about avoiding trouble- don't talk to strangers on the bus, move away if you see someone behaving inappropriately- yelling, getting physically or verbally aggressive, drinking alcohol, etc., sit on the outside of a seat if you're traveling alone and there are plenty of open seats on the bus (keeps creepers from sitting down next to you and penning you into the window seat), move toward the driver and feel free to ask him or her for help if someone is paying unwanted attention to you, etc. Make sure the kids know to call you if they feel uncomfortable (often getting on the phone can deter people who are behaving inappropriately towards you). With basic bus etiquette and a good understanding of schedules and routes, I think your kids will be fine traveling on Metro.   Sphinx answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 Started biking alone to friend's houses a mile or so away at age 8. Started bussing at age 10 for short trips. Started, like Myrna, using the bike&bus when I was 13, and the entire county opened up to become my playground. These days, I wouldn't let my child do any of that, that young. So I'm a total hypocrite. ;) RacerX answered in Kid Health & Safety 10 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 0 Q&A: 0 0 0 0 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Business Savvy Parents Safe Kids is a business on Questionland Seattle Follow Following 0

  0 0 I am a child safety instructor www.savvyparentssafekids.com and I tell parents all the time, it is our JOB as adults to help our kids safely navigate their world. This means, landing our "parental helicopters" and getting kids out into the world and experiencing real life..including riding the bus and walking to school and doing "normal" activities. I believe the most important thing parents can do is to give their kids good common safety sense. Talk about what to do "if" they need help, consider a cell phone and check in with them about their experiences on the bus. I am sure some GREAT conversations will come out of it. Parents will obviously have to figure out if there are off limit areas of town, but with guidance, riding the bus is a great way to help older kids be more independent! Savvy Parents Safe Kids answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 1 Q&A: 0 0 0 1 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 oldmother

  0 0 I'm a parent and rather than "I started riding the bus when..." statements, I can share that my 16 year old has been Metro bussing to high school since her freshman year with no hiccups. If your kids are SPS high school students, they'll get ORCA cards rather than a yellow bus assignment to get to school so 14 is seen as an appropriate age by the district. I love that my daughter has figured out how to use Metro's Trip Planner, has general knowledge of what routes take her where and can get herself to orthodontic and other types of routine appointment without me leaving work mid-day. Statistically speaking, it's far more dangerous for the kids to be in my car with me behind the wheel than on the bus and will be exponentially more dangerous once my 16 year old has her permit and starts learning to the drive. Me tooling around the two lane roads of South King County in a '74 Ford Courier with no shoulder belt or air bags at 50 mph on a regular basis during the early '80s was a far, far more dangerous thing to do than take Metro. oldmother answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I grew up in the burbs of CA, TX & then in Redmond, WA. So the first time I was on a bus from Redmond to Seattle, with my 11 year old brother in tow, to meet my mom for lunch she gave us orders to tell the bus driver where we were going and that we were meeting our mom. We were both a little nervous and scared but also excited at the prospect of traveling like adults (yeah, that excitement soon wears off) and it went off fine. Instruct your kids on the basics of safety and it should be just fine (and a 15 year old has already got to be feeling like he or she is an adult, I can't imagine that kid hasn't already been on a bus!) Jenn Forbes answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 The other answers are excellent. I wanted to add that as a young woman in my 20s when I first came to Seattle, I did experience sexual harassment on the buses several times. I think it is important to talk through different conflict scenarios with your kids to help give them some ideas about how to handle: random crazy people, drug dealers, people trying to pick a fight with anyone, sexual harassment. Solutions could be don't respond, move your seat (especially before it becomes an issue), talk to the bus driver, get off the bus and take the next one. The book Protecting the Gift is a good one for parent to read about keeping safe, and you can share sections with your kids as you see fit. agness answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I also, won't expand on the excellent answers already provided by others, but I will share that I was 14 when I got the green light from mom and dad to ride "Joe." We used to call it "Joe Metro" or "Joe" for short. As in, I'm getting a ride with "Joe." I doubt kids still call it that. But yeah, I was 14. soundslikepuget answered in Kid Health & Safety about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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