It’s an old joke — A nice old lady encounters a little boy standing on a street corner holding a bundle tied to the end of a stick.  She asks where he’s going and he tells her that he’s running away from home.  Concerned, she asks where “home” is and he points to a house just a couple of doors from the corner where he’s standing.  Less worried, she asks if this is as far as he’s going and the boy sighs and tells her “I guess so.  I’m not allowed to cross the street by myself.”

But in the real world, is there really reason to worry about kids a crossing the street?  Certainly, when they’re four or five years old, they shouldn’t be going anywhere by themselves but what about at, say, age ten or twelve?  Is a middle-school student old enough to cross the street by himself?  You might think so, but watch this video and you may very well change your mind.

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