At what age did you let your child out and about?

Phil3822

Thank you all for your interesting input on this topic. I actually let my boy walk ahead of us to school today. He was only maybe 10-15 meter's but he crossed the road himself and I could watch up checking the road etc. On the last stretch of path I let him walk himself and watched from the corner. I know its not much but its a start and I want him to gain some Independence and responsibility. He is 8, nearly 9 and we are in a villiage.

tooldle

My daughter was 12 at Christmas. Thoughout year 6, she was walking herself half way home from school (approx 1.5 miles), or walking to meet me in work. Now at secondary, she is confident to stay in the house on her own for half days, in the holidays. Doors are locked, she has a key and knows not to answer door or landline. She has a mobile to call or text if she needs us.
She has made a few trips out with her friends in recent months, swimming etc. At the same age, I was also out and about on the bus, visiting friends etc.
Looking back, at the age of 12 most school kids were only 4 years away from the world of work. You had to be able to get about independently by the age of 16. These days, eduction goes on for longer, and with it the age range in which we consider someone to still be a child.

podperson

I think it does depend on a lot of factors, when I was growing up we lived in a fairly quiet suburb and there were a lot of other kids around the same age. I was allowed to play out with them on the front street from around 6 years old and since the local shop was only one street over was allowed to go there when I wasn't much older. Wasn't allowed into the busier town centre on my own until I was about 10/11 though and then I had to check in with my dad who had a shop there. But then I was starting my first Saturday job at about 12 so was always quite mature for my age.

spidersandsprinkles

Phil3822 wrote: »

Thank you all for your interesting input on this topic. I actually let my boy walk ahead of us to school today. He was only maybe 10-15 meter's but he crossed the road himself and I could watch up checking the road etc. On the last stretch of path I let him walk himself and watched from the corner. I know its not much but its a start and I want him to gain some Independence and responsibility. He is 8, nearly 9 and we are in a villiage.

My Mum used to do that. Me and my next door neighbour we're in the same year at school so aged about 6-7 both our mums let us walk ahead and cross the road ourselves whilst they nattered behind us. When high school came along they were fine for us to walk there together ourselves.

We lived on a little dead end road with a field just off the road where all the kids on the street would play. The only rules we really had were that we couldn't go too far away for us to not hear being called back for tea. Even when we were quite little we'd all be playing out together not necessarily in direct view of our houses. Yeah, we came back with cuts and bruises, sometimes needing stitches but none of us have turned out for the worse because of it.

Nowadays round the area it seems people don't want to let their children/teenagers play in the park which is a stones throw away due to 'chavs'. I hung out in the park after school when I was 11/12 and although there were some nasty kids there sometimes, as we spent so much time there, we never got any stick from anyone and if anything were to happen, we were 2 minutes away and we were normally in a large group.

ruby-roo_2

Phil3822 wrote: »

Thank you all for your interesting input on this topic. I actually let my boy walk ahead of us to school today. He was only maybe 10-15 meter's but he crossed the road himself and I could watch up checking the road etc. On the last stretch of path I let him walk himself and watched from the corner. I know its not much but its a start and I want him to gain some Independence and responsibility. He is 8, nearly 9 and we are in a villiage.

I think that is a great common sense way to gradually increase his independance :T

jojo_2012_2

My son played out from aged 8. It depends on the kid, the area, traffic etc I live on a dead end street which is still a bit busy but not terrible.

FBaby

Well my just turned 9 yo walked from school to the afterschool club on his own yesterday and he was buzzing when I picked him up. He was so happy about being able to be part of the football club and then feeling all grown up walking back on his own. He texted me when he left and I called him as he was arriving (about 15 minutes later). He had no problem figuring out how to use the -old- mobile phone (never had one in his hands before). One good suggestion that came from his dad was to get him one of those visibility vest and he was happy to wear it. It did feel a little bit sick when he did it (especially as I was miles away), but am now so glad I agreed. I won't be anxious next week.

As for staying home, I have left him and his 12yo sister a number of times for about one hour on their own. My 12 yo has been on her own every morning for 1 hour and after school for 2 hours plus since september (and walks on her own to school) and she has been brilliant, not one problem since she started. I have left her on her own for the first time from 8:30 to 2:00, again no problem. Her brother has asked to stay with her, I would be ok with it, but am a bit worried about other's stand on this.

It really does depend on the child's maturity but also confidence. I would never consider letting my children walk on their own or stay at home if they didn't ask themselves and were happy with it.

silly_moo

Spendless wrote: »

I met my 12 next week child off the school bus yesterday and apparantly I have 'ruined his life by doing this' :rotfl:

I so totally agree with your son
I remember one day I gave my mum a huge row when she turned up at my school to pick me up. I was 7 or 8 then and felt really grown up and normally was walking to an from school on my own. My mum was staying at home with my 1yo brother and thought taking him out for a walk and picking me up from school at the same time was a really good idea. Unfortunately my classmates found this really funny and started teasing me when they saw her waiting (everyone was walking home on their own those days). I don't remember well but I think she didn't come to my school often after that. The school was about 7 minutes away and you had to cross a road which wasn't very busy (not so many cars back then).

I remember being out and about on my own when I was about 5 years old. I wasn't allowed to cross certain roads but this still left me a considerable amount of freedom to play as the "allowed" area was quite large.

Spendless

silly_moo wrote: »

I so totally agree with your son

Oh I didn't meet him cos I was being over protective. I knew he was lying and I intended proving him wrong, showing him up at the same time was ermmmm a handy side effect? However knowledge is power so in future forget groundings, removal of xbox/wii etc for misbehaviour instead I shall just turn up at the bus stop.:rotfl:

pinkmami

My 3 are 10, 8 & nearly 4. Older 2 started walking the 0.5 miles to school alone in September (yrs 5 & 3) & they've been out playing for a few yrs. Large village, everyone knows each other but they also have boundaries & they stick to them. I started letting them out to play when they were about 6 yrs old. We are lucky to have a playing field round the corner & a huge field in the back where in the summer they play till dusk with the other kids in the street.

DD1 will pop to the Co-op (about 3 mis walk) for me for milk & uses the crossing to cross the road. I also let her go on her bike on the cycle lane with her friend for about 1.5 miles each way - to a little cafe. She took an old mobile with her should she have needed it.

Really depends on your area & location so no one can judge your decision x