How old should children be before we have a garden pond?

Broken_hearted

Kimberley wrote: »

Well those who say keep the pond, what would be your response if a child were to drown in it :rolleyes: Fence or no fence a child will somehow manage to get to it. It's your pond do as you wish, but think which is the most important to you, the pond or your kids :rolleyes:

Well lets ban bathrooms, toys, cleaning products, cars, stairs, pets, roads, bad weather and food. Do you live near a road your child is much more likely to be killed there!

Kimberley

Broken_hearted wrote: »

Well lets ban bathrooms, toys, cleaning products, cars, stairs, pets, roads, bad weather and food. Do you live near a road your child is much more likely to be killed there!

You can't fill a road in though can you :rolleyes:

Broken_hearted

Kimberley wrote: »

You can't fill a road in though can you :rolleyes:

Nor can you stop most dangers. There is a pond a few houses down from us and its lovely no-one has drowned in it, the gates are locked and the kids are happy to look at the fish over the fence. I wouldn't dream of asking them to fill it in.

Spendless

Broken_hearted wrote: »

Nor can you stop most dangers. There is a pond a few houses down from us and its lovely no-one has drowned in it, the gates are locked and the kids are happy to look at the fish over the fence. I wouldn't dream of asking them to fill it in.

Nor would there be any reason to from what you've described above. Do they have kids themselves though? If they do and they are young there is more chance there will be an accident than if there was no pond there.

Kimberley

Broken_hearted wrote: »

Nor can you stop most dangers. There is a pond a few houses down from us and its lovely no-one has drowned in it, the gates are locked and the kids are happy to look at the fish over the fence. I wouldn't dream of asking them to fill it in.

Thats their pond, of course you wouldn't ask them, i'm talking about having a pond in your own garden when you have kids. If they go next door and drown in the neighbours pond that wouldn't be their fault.

ailuro2

There are risks everywhere, and the home is the most dangerous place to be statisitically as far as accidents rather than actual deaths go,iirc.

ok- here's my take on this debate-We teach our children to cross the road safely even though we don't actually let them do it by themselves until they are much older. Why do we do this if they will not be allowed to cross a road alone?
It is to get the message into their brains from an early age of how to behave in a situation that could be dangerous. And- just in case- for whatever unimagineable reason- they were ever in a situation that left them likely to cross a road unaccompanied.:eek:

For the posters who would fill in all the ponds-I do see your points, but I have to ask- do you have shut off valves on all your bath and sink taps that are inaccessible to your kids? Do all the hotwater taps in your home have heatguards on them to prevent scalding while handwashing? Is there a padlock on your toilet seat to prevent little heads tipping down into the toilet water? Are all alcohol, vitamins, cleaning fluids,knives,glasses and other breakables in childproof cabinets? No carrier bags from the supermarket in a handy drawer for re-use? Electrical sockets suitably guarded to prevent inquisitive fingers pulling out the plug? No cups of tea on a low table?

While we all want to do everything humanly possible to safeguard our kids they do need to be taught to always think safety, no matter how old they are.Yes, we have drawer locks and heatguards, but not on every drawer and tap as life would be impractical. Better they know the dangers, especially when we know that not every home they visit will be as safe as our own.

Kimberley

For the posters who would fill in all the ponds-I do see your points, but I have to ask- do you have shut off valves on all your bath and sink taps that are inaccessible to your kids? Do all the hotwater taps in your home have heatguards on them to prevent scalding while handwashing? Is there a padlock on your toilet seat to prevent little heads tipping down into the toilet water? Are all alcohol, vitamins, cleaning fluids,knives,glasses and other breakables in childproof cabinets? No carrier bags from the supermarket in a handy drawer for re-use? Electrical sockets suitably guarded to prevent inquisitive fingers pulling out the plug? No cups of tea on a low table?

Thats going a bit far

seven-day-weekend

Also, if the children are young enough to fall into a pond and drown, they are too young to be left unattended in the garden.

I was a child in the country; at the back of where I lived there was a field with COWS and a POND in it with SWANS on it.

All these things were potentially dangerous. I have been chased by cows and chased and bitten by swans. I have never fallen in a pond. I was not allowed free access until I was old enough to cope with it.

In our village here we have an irrigation system built by the Moors in the 12th century - free running water which is fast, deep and cold (as it comes from the high mountains). This goes through open water channels all through the village and is operated with a series of little sluice gates to irrigate the crops.

I have never heard of any child who has come to grief; they are taught to respect it from an early age.

We should do the same, and supervise properly when they are young.

ailuro2

Kimberley wrote: »

Thats going a bit far

Exactly my point- where is the cut-off point,though? I think it has changed over the years and it can get confusing.

I know we used to play (daily) a game we called cribby/kerby- the game where you throw a ball from one side of the road to the other and try to hit the opposite kerb, then when you got a hit you stood in the middle of the road to try for bonus points.:eek: I'd have kittens if I thought my 8yo DD would even think about doing that- even though our street is as quiet as the one where I grew up (without getting run over:D )

Spendless

ailuro2 wrote: »

For the posters who would fill in all the ponds-I do see your points, but I have to ask- do you have shut off valves on all your bath and sink taps that are inaccessible to your kids? Do all the hotwater taps in your home have heatguards on them to prevent scalding while handwashing? Is there a padlock on your toilet seat to prevent little heads tipping down into the toilet water? Are all alcohol, vitamins, cleaning fluids,knives,glasses and other breakables in childproof cabinets? No carrier bags from the supermarket in a handy drawer for re-use? Electrical sockets suitably guarded to prevent inquisitive fingers pulling out the plug? No cups of tea on a low table?

The difference is the pond is there with water in all the time. A pond is usually at ground level so you can wade/trip/fall into it.

seven day weekend - I made that point at the beginning, that you need to use loo etc and can not say with 100% accuraccy that you can be in garden at all times.