Going off of this, If you never give your kids the chance to exist independently in public spaces (and appropriately discipline them/ teach them) they’ll grow up without really learning this well.

I can’t believe how many kids (high school) these days will call their parents to help them out of any uncertain task in a public space rather than try to figure it out on their own.

Recent example was I was taking a kid to the customer service desk on a trip I was chaperoning because they forgot their pass, and they were so lost about what to do and were calling their parents for help. I had to tell them relax, we’ll just explain the problem to the person at the desk and see what they say. And he could barely do that.

I imagine that if you as a kid had the freedom to explore museums and stuff semi-independently as a 10 year old but also under supervision, they would have so much more confidence in public spaces on their own later.