Well, we've got a whole lot of chickens coming home to roost now and the big losers are kids with divorced parents who will have visitation opportunities severely curtailed. I predict that most common carriers will stop taking unaccompanied minors for fear of being litigated into bankruptcy should the little darlings take a wrong turn, and I can even foresee a day when kids won't even be able to take public transit to the beach without a babysitter along for the ride.
This is all part of the trend towards the infantilization of young people, and every year it seems that the concept of "child" is being redefined with older age groups being included. Barb and Jen Bush can't but a drink because they're still "children" at 19. Some commentators in the media regard Chandra Levy as a child at 24. Where does it end? Will the next generation be spending all their free time in daycare centres until they're 40? I suspect part of the problem may be education, as I've noticed a lot of people are totally incapable of following written directions.
I find it incredible that kids are no longer considered capable of getting around on their own. I'm on staff at an air cadet squadron in the middle of a major city with good transit, we've got 15-year-olds being chaffeured by paranoid mommies who think the subway is dangerous
. Another thread here mentions an airline that apparently doesn't think it safe to seat a 12-year-old next to an adult male. This is absurd- if anything, keeping them bubble-wrapped simply makes them more vulnerable because they never have the chance to develop their own judgment.
When I was younger (not THAT long ago) it was normal for us to go out on our own- most of us rode the subway alone at 8 years, many of us travelled to other towns alone when we were teens. Parents today are kidding themselves if they think the streets are less safe than before- most violent crimes are still ones that involve family & acquaintances, attacks by strangers are still extremely rare.