Anime Boston is an exceptional opportunity for our growth. We will travel by ourselves, probably slip up once or twice, learn from those failures, and gain independence and self-reliance. Cutting us off from opportunities to grow and explore the real world is a costly mistake.
What will we do when we graduate, after four years of cramming for tests, in sheltered suburban Massachusetts? What will we do when we are suddenly flung into the life of the city, of roaring traffic and roaring crowds, of buildings that light up the sky to replace the stars?
And oh my, what will we do when we have to interact with people? When we meet confrontational people, dangerous people, drug addicts and drunks? When we are faced with danger and negative experiences,
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What could they shield us from? White vans? Men with guns? We were thirteen and we were so stupid and incompetent we needed to be supervised in a quiet suburban community? Of course! Only if an adult accompanies us will we avoid getting into strangers’ cars!
I grew up trick or treating with Aaron Zhang and Nithin by ourselves, running up and down the streets and learning to traverse the neighborhood through signs and sidewalks. Last year was the first time since I was seven years old that a parent followed and monitored me. Children learn by taking risks, and those who do become less fearful and more independent adults.
When news and media are accessible at our fingertips, we blow dangers out of proportion. In reality, though crime still exists, the world is safer than ever. One phenomenon features family abduction (in cases of divorce or child custody wars) grouped together with stranger abduction. The result: alarming numbers of “abduction,” and more and more parents buying child tracking devices and hovering over their every step outside.
We are responsible teenagers. We won’t accept candy from strangers or get on their vans. Letting us travel in a small state’s small capital will not kill us, but instead will help us gain some tough skin, experience, and