I grew up in a big city (Moscow). I walked the streets alone and took the subway alone starting at the age of 12. I went to the playground outside of my apartme

I grew up in a big city (Moscow). I walked the streets alone and took the subway alone starting at the age of 12. I went to the playground outside of my apartment building alone starting at the age of... IDK, 5, maybe? Did bad stuff happen occasionally? Yeah, I got robbed a couple of times, got into some fights, did some very dumb things myself, to be perfectly honest. But I feel like all of the bad stuff was a small price to pay for independence and street smarts. Edit: one benefit of that is that as an adult, I've never felt unsafe walking the streets in the US in any neighborhood, now matter how bad its reputation is.