> You may not have defended what happened but if you don’t think it’s acceptable either my reading comprehension or your writing needs work. I think they meant

> You may not have defended what happened but if you don’t think it’s acceptable either my reading comprehension or your writing needs work. I think they meant 'acceptable cost' from the perspective of a parent deciding whether to let their children use public transport unsupervised. Meaning: despite the risk, it's still worth letting them roam free. (Not meaning: it's socially or morally acceptable that people sometimes intimidate and rob children.)