NEW YORK — Kids who live in the city learn their streetsmarts early. Not just, “Don’t talk to strangers,” but also, “Keep your hand on your wallet.”
So when my 11-year-old wanted to ride his bike to the playground, I handed him a bike lock. My parting words were: “Use the lock. If that bike gets stolen, I’m not buying a new one.”
An hour later, the bike was gone, swiped by a bigger kid who said, “Hey, can I see your bike for a minute?” and rode away.
“You fell for that?” I said to my son. “You’ll be riding your scooter from now on.”
But he wasn’t upset. He was sure we’d get the bike back.
Incredibly, we did.  … Details