An 11-year-old girl has her parents' permission to visit other countries...alone.
In a generation where kids have to worry about the dangers of walking to school alone, Rosalie Atkins has no problem boarding a plane and venturing into other countries. In fact, Rosalie's mother, Anne, sets up the excursions for her daughter.
Atkins lives in England, and recently wrote a piece for the Daily Mail that defended her parents' decision to let her travel abroad without their supervision, Yahoo! News reported. She explained how "fortunate" she felt that her parents allowed her to have freedom and independence from a very young age.
This summer, Atkins visited Paris for a week and stayed with a host family. Anne's decision to say "Bon voyage" to the pre-teen did not sit well with many parents, but Atkins still had the time of her life. Anne was referred to as a "terrible mother."
"While other children may have been dragged around all summer after their parents or sitting in front of TV or computer screens during their holidays, I have just spent the most amazing week in Paris - without my family," Atkins wrote.
Parents weren't the only ones who gave Anne some trouble. Eurostar, the railway service that connects London to Paris, declared that Atkins was too young to travel alone. Their age limit is 12. Instead, the family decided to fly their daughter on British Airways Skyflyer Solo Program, a program they've used once before that provides a chaperone service for children who are traveling alone, according to the Daily Mail.
"My mother took me to Heathrow, said goodbye and handed me over to a lady who took me to the plane," Atkins said. "I was delivered to Jeanne and her father the other end."
Jeanne Scribe is Atkins's friend, and the duo spent a week exploring the most famous monuments and attractions in Paris, as well as some unique and less-frequented places.
"If I had visited with my parents, we would have seen only the touristy parts of Paris. But because I was staying with a French family I saw some far more unusual aspects."
Atkins feels confident traveling solo, and the opportunity her parents gave her has allowed her to develop new social skills and become more aware of her surroundings. She has acquired skills that not many children her age possess, and she does not fear speaking to "new people."
Atkins is grateful to her parents for letting her embark on adventures that other kids can only dream of. This is not the first time she has left the country without her folks. She has previously flown to Paris at age 9 - without the use of a cell phone and without speaking a word of the French language. There are definitely more journeys in store for the young Rosalie Atkins.
"While a lot of children can only go places with their parents, I don't have to rely on mine to do all the things I want to do," she said. "The way I see it, your parents aren't going to travel with you forever. You have to learn some day, and in my opinion the sooner the better."
