concerns about some children

Graham29

Playing out is ok as long as they are road wise. I wouldn't let my child play outside wearing just knickers though! Most parents get use to seeing their children running around naked, my son hated clothes and spent alot of time fiddling with himself! There is a time and a place though, and in my opinion children shouldn't be naked, or just in undies in the street, not everybody wants to see or is comfortable seeing naked or semi naked bodies.

LittleMissAspie

I'm totally confused that people don't think the knickers are a problem. It's 17 degrees in my house, I'm dressed and I'm feeling cold. According to the BBC, it was about 12 degrees outside at 6.30pm here so if all she's wearing is a pair of knickers then surely she is at risk of her body temperature dropping? I thought children got cold (and hot) more easily than adults too.

rachbc

in fairness op did say she put on a pair of trousers - she doesn't say how long she was just in knickers for - children often don't feel the cold - especially if they are running about. From the op I don't think it was cold that she was worried about, more that there was something 'wrong' with a child wearing just knickers and that it was somehow a sexually/ morally inappropriate (thats what I infered rightly or wrong she was trying to get at with 'in this day and age' as oppossed to 'in this weather')

POPPYOSCAR

p_joker wrote: »

well thank goodness Im not the only one that thinks this isn't right,
Im quite shocked at how many people think its ok. I don't lock up my kids all day in front of a tv, i take them to soft play places, park etc for one I have more respect for my neighbours to let them make a noise outside their house and how is it ok to be running about in your underwear at 6.30 at night in the cold? - hot summers day in a back garden with a paddling pool - fine an evening in march down a steet not being watched - wrong !

No you are not the only one who thinks this is wrong. I agree with you as well.

My kids younger than 4 would be having their bath and winding down ready to go to bed at this time of the evening.

gingin_2

You said kids, meaning more than one, so I assume there are older kids out there too. You also dont mention where your father lives, is it a quiet cul-de-sac, or is she dicing with death along the A1

We let my dd run home alone, when we have been out, about 100 metres away from our home which amounts to 3 windy, cobbly streets with no roads, her brother is normally ahead of her. The other week some woman was tut - tutting to her friends asking how someone could possibly let a 5 year old girl (her words) out of their sight. I told her it was my daughter, who is small but 7 years old and if she cared to look back she could see my daughter sitting on our doorstep, having a chuckle, because she had beat us home.

What I am trying to say, is what people see and what is actually going on can be two totally different things.

balletshoes

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

I'm totally confused that people don't think the knickers are a problem. It's 17 degrees in my house, I'm dressed and I'm feeling cold. According to the BBC, it was about 12 degrees outside at 6.30pm here so if all she's wearing is a pair of knickers then surely she is at risk of her body temperature dropping? I thought children got cold (and hot) more easily than adults too.

nope, when they're having fun, kids are not even aware of the temperature - mine has to be practically forced to wear socks and a coat in the middle of Winter!

andrealm

rachbc wrote: »

How do you know she wasn't being watched and how do you know she was cold? How often have you seen this happen?

It's March, my kids don't feel the cold but even they would be cold if they were outside at this time of year in nothing but a pair of pants.

ellay864

clearingout wrote: »

My 19th month old leaves the house to do the school run at 8:30am and is generally spotless. By the time we're leaving school at 9:15am he's usually filthy - rolls around the play equipment with the older children, crawls on the floor, falls over....I often wonder if other mums think I never wash him!

Sorry...wasn't implying that dirty is a sign of neglect, two boys of my own, I know exactly where you're coming from! Was more a figure of speech meaning they didn't look they were never bathed, dressed in rags...now I have an image of some Dickensian scene!

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

No you are not the only one who thinks this is wrong. I agree with you as well.

My kids younger than 4 would be having their bath and winding down ready to go to bed at this time of the evening.

Generally agree but OP did say this was a Saturday and that she visits once a week. My kids had a very strict bath, bed, story, sleep routine from an early age but I loosened the reins a bit at weekends . Also looking back my younger got more freedom as he had an older brother to play with. Does OP know if this girl was out by herself or if she has older siblings?

bap98189

This is a generational thing isn't it. When I was at primary school, most kids were allowed out on their own. Probably not aged 4, but from whatever age their parents thought it Ok to let them out on their own (for me it was about 7). If you went down the park after school, you would find probably 20 football games going on, and umpteen kids messing about on bikes or whatever. If I go down the same park now, I can almost guarantee that there will be nobody there. For whatever reason, parents just don't let children out to play on their own, and society has come to the conclusion that to do so is wrong. I find that sad, but in the current society we have become extremely risk averse and no parents are willing to allow their children to go out no matter how small the risk of anything happening.

andrealm

I didn't play out until I was about seven. Where I live there are plenty of kids playing out on their own from the age of six or seven. Not so many younger ones and even then they are dressed in more than a pair of pants. My children are 4 and 2 so they don't play out the front on their own yet, but when they are a bit older and more road worthy, they will be allowed to.