> What is more, at the age of 10 I already experienced the freedom of
> venturing around the city without my parents' permission, courtesy of
> public transportation. That freedom is denied to scores of suburban
teens
> in this country, who depend on their parents to be taken places.
Indeed. Growing up in an urban area, I went everywhere by city bus. Later, it used to be easy to get around by hitchhiking. Between the ages of 15 and 21, I hitched hundreds if not thousands of rides, and had scarcely any bad experiences. I hitchhiked home from high school nearly every day my senior year. Hitchhiking seems to have died out almost completely. What do you suppose happened?
Jacob Conrad