>Without going back over this whole thread, I'm sure that the original question Jay raised was about a 13 year old going to the mall and being on her own. Now you've introduced 'who they were going to be with'. The answer to that question, for the purposes of this thread is 'nobody'. Does that change anything? If not, then I stand by my statement that she is being allowed off the leash. When she doesn't call home, then what? It may well be too late for concern at that point.

Actually, the girl in the original news story was in a store. I'm not sure it ever said whether that was a mall or in a town's shopping district. Does it make a difference? Maybe. Are we talking about a girl walking a few blocks from home to a store (something I was allowed to do pretty much from 7 or 8), or riding a bus to a mall or a downtown, which is a much bigger deal.

Do I think with a friend or friends (or a sibling) is better than alone? Yeah. But would I automatically say that a 13-year-old is too young to do this alone. No, it depends on the kid and the place.

Tamar