Part of my research for my next book involves train travel, so I’ve been querying train companies in England. Today I received an email with a highly satisfying answer: yes, kids can ride the train without an adult.
As the polite customer service person advised me, it’s good to consider whether the child is comfortable riding alone, and responsible enough to get off at the right stop. The train crew would be “more than happy to assist.”
Hallelujah. As every writer and reader of children’s fiction knows, the first major plot task is to Get Rid of the Parents. Why? So children are free to have their own adventures (and solve their own problems). That’s why so many heroines and heroes in children’s fiction are orphans. From an author’s viewpoint, it’s downright convenient. It’s also getting harder in modern fiction to realistically ditch the parents. Adult supervision is everywhere.
Although my book-in-progress has magic in it (ghosts), everything else is realistic. It wouldn’t do to have my child heroes riding Amtrak into their adventure — Amtrak won’t let them. If I aged my characters to become teenagers, they could potentially ride Amtrak – but only on certain routes, if they are tagged as unaccompanied minors, put through a personal interview by station staff, and declared not to be allergic to peanuts. What a stark contrast.
We can all learn a lesson from the Get Rid of the Parents motto in children’s fiction, and the sensible British train policy of letting kids travel solo if the family thinks the kids are comfortable and ready. When we step to the side, kids can experience their own lives and adventures.
And safety? Safety comes from understanding and participating in the world, not being overly sheltered from it. It’s up to us to judge risk appropriately. The most dangerous thing most of us do is put our children in a car.
Kids in books and in real life thrive on challenges of independence. Life worth living has risk at every age.
What were your early independent adventures? What risks do you need to take now?
