I was a 90’s kid in San Diego. That meant playing outside or at the park alone, walking our dog around the neighborhood, and going to the nearby store to buy snacks and treats when our mom was at work.
While we weren’t exactly latchkey kids, we certainly had the freedom to run around and explore our neighborhood. I even began babysitting when I was only 11.
Since those days, things have shifted significantly. It feels like that era is long gone, and were I still living in the US as a parent, I don’t know that I’d ever let my children out of my sight.
We live in Switzerland now
When we first moved to Switzerland, it was the most striking thing to see really little kids walking around, playing alone, or in small groups. Children walking around by themselves is as real today as it was 50 years ago. It’s a part of the culture that has always been normal, and, quite often, the only ones resisting the practice are people who have relocated to Switzerland from other countries.
Never had I seen anything like it in the US, and it was, at first, almost shocking; like my mind couldn’t process what I was seeing.
My kids were born in Europe and have lived in three countries. Since moving to Central Switzerland, I’ve jumped right in with following local customs and traditions; it’s an important part of integration and assimilation.
We outfitted our kids with watches and started by allowing them to go to the nearby playgrounds. I needed to know which playground they’d be at, and I’d have them check in every 20 to 30 minutes. As they demonstrated their competence and aged a bit, they were allowed to go out for longer periods. These days, they go out and play, scoot, or bike around for up to an hour. Then they have to check in.
They started walking alone in kindergarten
To learn Swiss German, my kids were enrolled in day care and, subsequently, kindergarten at the age of 4. From the time they started kindergarten, they were expected to walk to and from school alone.
Children who have after-school day care or extracurricular activities will walk alone or in small groups to their destinations. In kindergarten, a police officer comes to guide each class through the local neighborhood, giving safety instructions.
Children learn to walk on the inside of the sidewalk (away from the street), to cross only at crosswalks, and to use the warte, luege, lose, laufe (wait, look, listen, walk) saying.
Kindergarten teachers also encourage parents to have their children go to the store alone in order to get an ingredient or two. Cash is preferred because it’s a nice way for the children to practice math.
By age 6, my kids were taking the bus alone
From the age of 6, children can apply for a subsidized bus pass. We started with a monthly pass that included two zones; after a year, we upgraded to an annual subscription that included the whole region. This includes buses, trains, the ferry, and a rack railway up the local mountain.
Our kids regularly travel between two parents, so it’s a great way for them to practice traveling on their own in places where they speak the language and where society supports children earning their independence. Both kids can read, so using their analog watches, they are empowered to read the bus and train schedules. Should they need any help, they can speak one of their three languages and consult an adult.
In the last year, I’ve been increasing the complexity of the shopping list items I need from the store and have been giving my eldest my credit card so she can pay for purchases when I don’t have cash. If she doesn’t know the item I’m requesting, I’ll look it up in the shopping app so she knows what to look for. With a list, she’s able to bring home the missing ingredients without a problem.
On occasion, my kids have expressed interest in visiting various stores in our city’s downtown area. They take their bus pass, their wallets, and we discuss a budget. Sometimes they just want to window shop, sometimes they actually purchase things, but they do it on their own.
It’s been nearly 13 years since I left the US. I’ve traveled to more than 30 countries and lived in six of them on three continents, so I’ve seen a bit of how life operates around the world. I have such an appreciation and respect for the Swiss way of raising independent children, and I see the strength and self-sufficiency my kids have developed as a result.
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