Just because someone was your friend in first grade doesn't mean they'll be your friend forever. In fact, one study has found that only 10% of first grade friendships survive until the sixth grade. Sometimes, there's that one incident that shows you your friend's true colors.
For this 12-year-old, it was her birthday trip to New York, to which she invited said friend. But after she made the trip a living hell and later demanded that the birthday girl's mom drive her back home, the realization probably hit. Even the mom was left feeling like a jerk and asked the Internet to back her up on whether she was being reasonable in telling the little Karen's mom to come get her so that the whole trip wouldn't be ruined.
A 12-year-old invited her friend to join her, her mom, her grandma, and other friends for a trip to New York
Image credits: valevenezia (not the actual photo)
But the little Karen ruined the trip by whining constantly and later demanding that the mom drive her back home
Image credits: kjekol (not the actual photo)
Image credits: StudioSixNs (not the actual photo)
Image source: Training-Cry2676
Walking and commuting by subway gives preteens necessary independence skills
Image credits: Fellipe Ditadi (not the actual photo)
A lot has already been said in the last few years about how American cities are not walkable anymore. But what we talk about less often is how children are walking to places less and less, and the impact it is having on them.
Most parents worry about their children's safety and don't let them roam the streets by themselves. Yet experts say that walking to places does kids a lot of good. The authors of a 2019 study even suggest that the more kids walk around, the more upward mobility they enjoy when they become adults. In fact, they posit that walkability accounts for up to 11% increase in their future financial stability.
But there were other things about walking to places that impacted kids positively:
- It gave kids a sense of belonging and community;
- They were healthier, both physically and emotionally (walking triggers creativity and problem-solving);
- It gave kids more confidence.
In another 2023 study, researchers argue that walking to school is a great opportunity for kids to foster independence. Associate Professor of Psychology and Gender, Women, and Sexuality at Widener University Mariah G. Schug, Ph.D., agrees.
"When children have the freedom to travel through their neighborhood without direct adult supervision, they develop critical skills," she writes for Psychology Today. "Independent walking promotes risk assessment, social competencies, environmental knowledge, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities."
Children who are driven everywhere by their parents or generally stay closer to home tend to be more anxious even well into adulthood. When it comes to walking to school, developmental experts say that children should be doing it independently by the age of eight.
The NYC subway is a completely different environment, though, and it's understandable why parents wouldn't want their child to take it by themselves. Bronx middle school counselor Joyce Lee believes that middle school is the perfect stage to teach pre-teens to commute by subway on their own.
"In NYC, middle school seems to be the age to start teaching children how to commute on their own. It all depends on the child's ability to take on that responsibility," she says. "It can be scary for both parent and preteens to take this step, but it is also necessary to teach independence since middle school prepares the ground for high school."
"I barely knew Leah when we extended the invite," the mom clarified in the comments
People thought that not being friends with "Leah" anymore will be the best for the kid: "Sounds like a win"
