Children travelling alone on public transport

From age 10 mum drove me to the village, to get the bus into town then I walked to the bus station to get the bus out to school. The journey took 1hr 15 minutes in the morning and longer in the afternoon. I had a recurring dream that there wasn't any room inside so they put me on the roof of the bus where I slid about like a stuntman, so I must have been stressed, but my parents always made me do things I was scared of "There's no such word as can't".

10 schools in 3 countries, so it varied. But essentially started travelling on public transport alone at 11. New school, where I boarded, but at half term on my parents instructions, and with my younger sister I went down to the bus station and caught the Newbury bus, via Compton, where we got off at the bus stop outside our new home. Next time we did it by train and walked from the station.

By 13 I was travelling from Reading to London by train for dental appointents at the Dental Hospitla in Leicester aquare.

At 15 sis and I were deposited at Heathrow airport to travel out to Malaya, nominally under the care of a stewardess, but mainly left to our own devices. We dealt with plane breakdowns, overnights in strange hotels in previously unvisited countries and Custom men who wanted us to open all our Christmas presents in the customs hall on December 20th.

DC first travelled alone at 11. We moved into a big town as I returned to a fulltime job. On our first day in the house, I walked DC (9,11) into town and bussed them back. After that DS 11 could go out and travel alone, but 9 year old could only go out with brother, At 11 made his first train journey alone, 3 stops down the line to a friend where we used to live.

DGC live in a city near a main road with a frequent bus service. They have been using local transport since they went to secondary school.

I don't think the tutors are that thrilled when potential students visit with their sisters and their cousins and aunts who keep interrupting presentations with fatuous questions, and as for the parents who expect to be included in the interview, and those who want to stay on site for the first week; Well.

I went with dds to some of their university Open Days, but it was largely for company on some long journeys, London to Newcastle is one I remember most. But once there, I let dd get on with it - just arranged to meet her at a particular location before heading home again.

Particularly when I wasn’t at all familiar with the cities dds ended up in, it was really good to spend a day there getting a feel for them.

So obviously some companies have different ideas (and some countries).

Sorry, have posted too soon.

Just discovered that Amtrak say Children age 12 and under may not travel unaccompanied.

There’s no minimum age to travel on a train alone.

This is a myth.

I well remember children travelling to a local independent school when I was at grammar school and they were the same age as I was. I can only assume things have changed - it was about 60 years ago!

When I was 7 we move about 3 or 4 miles from school so I went on the town bus both my children and grandchildren were using buses to the nearest city when they were 11
I never had a car so until they bought their own at 17 they all used the local bus
My grandkids went to the city to school at 11 on a town bus it was 1 and a half hours each way they used to get home about 6

It’s certainly not illegals to travel on trains grandtante two of my grandkids travelled to school on the train and there’s many 11 to 16 year olds on the train every day

My children all travelled to school by train from the age of 11. Surely it wasn’t illegal?

I think 12 is the minimum age for travelling on a train in the UK without someone aged at least 16.

You may be under 18 when attending university open days - my son was 17.

I believe it is illegal in the UK for children under 16 to travel alone on trains, which might explain some of the parents driving teenagers around.

Yes, we took buses on our own from around the age of 11, trains too, and when I was fourteen I travelled alone from Glasgow to Copenhagen by air.

But the world has changed let's face it. Rightly or wrongly today's parents all over Europe are obsessed by the fear of their c

hildren being sexually abused, mugged or murdered and apparently all of these crimes are more common than when we were children.

You cannot really blame responsible parents for taking care of their children, can you?

But this can be taken to unreasonable extents.

As you are unlikely to get a university place until you are 18, you are legally an adult when you go there, so should be able to get their on your own, pay your rent and phone bills yourself and do all the other boring things that are part of adult life.

At a school reunion recently one of my friends was telling me about when she went off to Uni. She was very bright indeed so went to grammar school a year early, so she was a year younger than the rest of us.

She lived in a tiny rural village with really poor transport and her parents did not have a car. She went off alone on her own aged just 16 with a massive rucksack and a suitcase to a place she had never visited before. She caught the one weekly bus from her village, followed by two train journeys. She became a PE teacher.

I had to get a bus to primary school and did it on my own aged from about 6/7.

Secondary school was a 3.5 mile bus ride away.

I left school at 15 and would commute to London everyday

Sorry I pressed , before I had finished. I used to catch the train ( 30 minute journey) from my home town to visit my sister in her nurses digs,from about 13/14 then walk through a city centre to get there, I was catching a bus alone to see friends and relatives from about the age of 10. I walked to school from the age of 6, there were others in the street going to the same school and we had to cross a busy ( for the 60s) rd to get there. My own DD used to walk to my mother's house from school from the age of 10 it was about a 10 minute walk. But it has stood her in good stead and she walks everywhere now as she doesn't drive.

I agree cc - my husband was running open days and said that often the young person couldn't get a word in because of the parents! It drove him mad and he felt it did a disservice to the student.

Then, when more and more started coming, he (with colleagues) devised ways of separating off the parents from prospective students so that at least the poor students could get away. Separate talks and as the system developed, Separate guided tours.

Needless to say, more recently when the "lone" students were getting to be a rarity, he, and other staff warmed to anyone who was interestedenoughtoput in the effort.
He always remembered those students and was delighted if they arrived in one of his seminars.

Our children were put on the train and got there themselves. We deliberately didn't want to influence them - but did sit with them ahead of time to discuss things they might want to ask and insisted they wrote the questions down. I suppose some might not want to be seen with a list of questions - but they can always look it over in a quiet moment.
We funded their travel but left them to it. They each went to look at several except the one who was fixated on a particular course who looked at that one university and one backup.

In "our day" I would have been mortified to have my parents go with me. This was a big step for me into my adult life.

I visited several universities and my "first choice" had a full day of interviews and practical work. I had to stay the night. I had probably just had my 17th birthday.

I used to get two buses to the riding stables when I was around 9 or 10. One time, the bus arrived at the bus station and I got on it, but I didn't realise that, although it was the right number, it was going in the opposite direction and I ended up in a town in the next county. Fortunately, the bus driver took pity on me and let me stay on as it went back the other way again and I eventually got there. My mother just told me not to be so stupid again!

We went with our son to university open days and also took him to uni when he started. I think that’s normal. It wasn’t treating him like a parcel. Where we used to live there was no public transport for my son to use anyway except the school bus so of course we drove him around. We bought him a car for his 17th birthday and he passed his test soon afterwards so could go out without our help.

I probably went on a bus by myself for the first time when I was 11 and went to grammar school. My parents didn’t have a car.

I live near a large university town and yes parents drive their children to open days and to and from the university at the start and end of years.
But I don't think that has anything to do with young people not using public transport. We have a metro system that goes to the coast and last weekend hundreds of 16 year olds travelled on it to party and celebrate the end of exams on the beach. On weekends and evenings and in the summer holidays gangs of children between 8 and 13 roam around on it, without paying, jumping on and off at will, unless the driver decides to report them.
I'd say most of them are far more confident and certainly less worried about authority than I was at their age.

University open days I think are different as a parent you would want to see the facilities the university has to offer, as well as how the subject will be taught ( not always the same in each university ) what the accommodation is like and I think you would ask questions that a 17/18 year old might not think off, they are only interested in the nightlife😂 .

I used to work with a guy who lived in London. He was catching two trains to get to school from age 6. Probably the 70s.

At the age of 8 a group of us went 5 miles by bus to the nearest swimming pool to learn to swim and also to the cinema for Saturday morning pictures. At age 11 we travelled 10 miles by train to school. I don't think our parents worried at all but, in fairness, the world is a much busier place and more dangerous place now.

I first caught a bus by myself when I was eight in order to go to my piano lessons in the next village (Norfolk). I remember being told to stick my arm out if I saw the bus coming and I was the only person at the stop.

My mum put me on the bus to school when I was 5. I had a few friends who went with me.
All my children used buses from a fairly young age. We took them to some open days but not all.
My GS and GD were driven around a lot but when they were at university quickly became adept at using buses and trains.

My oldest friend and I went by bus to primary school in the next village at the age of 4 chaperoned by my older brother who was 6!

In summer we would walk the mile and a bit, no pavements, and occasionally in winter our dads would ferry us depending on which shift they were working.

Different times eh!