Taken from metaquotes

[conuly]

I'm not agreeing with a lot of the commentors here. Yes, every half an hour is often. But! This kid is thirteen. It's not like she's four, five years older and still being treated like a little kid.

When I was thirteen, I could, if I checked with my mom, go into Manhattan, visit the bookstore by myself. (Or go elsewhere, I suppose, though I never wanted to). I had to call before I left the house, call or drop by when I got into Manhattan, call when I got where I was going - and check in every 45 minutes or so. On a payphone.

I didn't always, since this involved having enough quarters and being able to realize how much time had passed, but I was expected to make some sort of good-faith effort to follow these simple, simple rules.

Because I didn't want my mother to think I'd been kidnapped and killed, that's why. It's just not that big a deal.

Comments

[dandelion.livejournal.com]

My parents, thankfully, never did that to me (and you know, I'm not all that much older than the girl in the article). Considering kids in Germany go to school on their own from the age of 6, they figure that since I'm sensible, far older than 6, and live in a nice town, nothing much will happen to me. I think that phoning every half hour's just patronising- it's like you don't trust their judgment at all.