Would you let your six-year-old take public transport on his own? What about allowing your three-year-old to walk to the local shop?
In Japan, kids make their own way to and from school – it is a common sight and because many of them travel in groups it is viewed as safe.
There is even a popular TV show in Japan called First Errand which secretly follows young children out for the first time without an adult.
Japanese parents say we should give children credit for being smart and being as independent as possible. They believe it promotes resilience, stops them being mollycoddled and makes them much more responsible adults.
It is an unusual dynamic and one explained by Dwayne Dixon, an anthropologist who wrote his thesis on the very issue.
“Japanese kids learn early on that, ideally, any member of the community can be called on to serve or help others”
It is the same story at school where kids take turns cleaning and serving lunch instead of relying on staff. Dixon says this: “distributes labor across various shoulders and rotates expectations, while also teaching everyone what it takes to clean a toilet”
Japanese mums believe that this autonomy gives children pride of ownership – they also know that a child in public can rely on a group to help in any emergency situation. The design of the street spaces make it safer and more human-friendly.
Do you think we baby our children too much? Would you let your child walk to school alone?
