Parenting around the world.

Newsweek's My Turn essay this week was written by a mom in Tokyo.

She describes her worries about her six year old son as he is expected to make his own way to school each day taking two trains on a 90 minute ride across central Tokyo, including a stop to change trains in the busiest train station in the world.

He does fine, he makes it okay, but she worries about him.

Six year olds in my neighborhood aren't allowed to walk three blocks through a residental neighborhood to our local elementary school on their own or even in groups without an adult escort. My preteen and teenage neighbors aren't allowed to walk four blocks to the pool by themselves. Mo, at four and a half isn't allowed to cross a very unbusy street, go two houses down and visit his friend on his own.

I remember reading an interview with J.K. Rowling about when she first started writing the Harry Potter books and she said something about parking her kid in a stroller on the sidewalk while she went into a cafe to write. People were outraged. Well, in America they were outraged because we can't even imagine being able to do something like that. We'd be arrested and our children would be taken to foster care.

I would love to know more about the climate of parenting around the world.

Fill me in!