Last week, I sent my son to middle school. Not only did I release my first born to the land of lockers, school dances, and PE uniforms, I actually sent him off – as in, I said goodbye at the curb and watched him pedal off on his own.
What would have been no big deal a generation ago – for an 11-year-old boy to ride his bike less than two miles through a residential neighborhood to go to school – feels like major risk for today’s parents. It’s not even like I just left him to his own devices to find his way to a new campus. Last week, when the incoming students had two days of orientation (another thing we didn’t have back in the day when we walked barefoot in the snow only to be shoved in a Dumpster by upperclassmen) we mothers organized a group of boys to test out the route, and even rode with them for practice. It was Critical Mass for the middle school set. Some kids already had cell phones, and I planned to get one for my son.
Contrast this to my own childhood. As a Kindergartener, I walked by myself to the end of our long street and caught a school bus. In the afternoons, I got off at my appointed stop and walked through an empty field to my babysitter’s house. By the time I reached sixth grade, I could not only ride my ten-speed to school, I knew how to purchase a pass for the city bus and find my way to the local mall. We had no cell phones or GPS, just quarters in our pockets to call home if needed.
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What a great idea to do a test route to get everyone prepared. He looks cute in the picture!