Kids on street

ailuro2

our 8 1/2 yo is only allowed to play on the pavement outside our home, it is a quiet street with a wide grass verge/hilly border between the pavement and road. Even then she must remain visible, and doesn't get out for too long- this is the first year I've not sat out while she played.

Rachie_B

My youngest just turned 5, has been playing out the front of our house, for about a year now,quiet cul de sac,lots of other children about mostly older

also he has his big brother there ( almost 11) the majority of the time he is outside

its a close knit area,everyone with children looks out for everyone elses children etc

i would hate to live in an area where they werent safe to be able to play out it does them good i think and they love all being together just playing

esp now the warmer weather / light nights

skintas_2

i have two boys 4 and 7. i live in a block of flats with off road parking, they play around the block of flats, in the carpark, and on the grass. the neighbours complain about the kids playing as some cars have been scratched in the past. prove it was the kids that done it and not someone you fell out with. there are6 nother famileis im the only mum who supervised. it makes me mad, some other mums wthink we shoudl all look out for one another, when theyre kids have accidents it take sages for them to come to the front door. i let my kids play out by themselves, or they stay in, too much hassle.

tigtag02

petereverton wrote: »

The street can get busy, when the railway is getting fixed we have lorry's and tracters etc.. around.
I feel he is far to young,
my neighbour for example lets her 4 year old out, but I don't think it is right.

I'm thinking 16 :rolleyes:

Carmina_Piranha_3

around age 9. it really does depend on the maturity of the child, how busy the road is etc. and also if there are older children/siblings you know will look after yours.

children as young as two play out here, sometimes looked after by older siblings who in my opinion are too young to be out themselves let alone looking after a toddler.

but some would call me overprotective.

when spud was younger i would take him to the park. if we went to a park a mile away a load of street kids would come with us, that way he got children to play with and i could sit and read a book in the shade without looking liek an overprotective madwoman, because the park is so far away so they needed an adult to take them.

Coupon-mad

I agree Carmina, about age 9 onwards. Our street is fairly quiet but some drivers mistakenly think it leads to a nearby bigger road (which it doesn't except for a footpath) then they'll roar back up the road when they realise their mistake.

DS1 is 14 and he's independent (within reason, obviously) I don't even worry if he's late home from school as he and his friends tend to take the scenic route via the park.

My DS2 and DS3 are 6 and 8 and I will only let the 8yr old out the front for a short while with his older sister, I really prefer him to be with his younger brother in the back garden as he's not fully 'traffic-trained' (typical impulsive lad really). My 6 yr old is not allowed out the front unless an adult or his oldest brother is with him, and I wouldn't want him playing out there yet as he's completely unpredictable.

My DD is 11 and she and other neighbours' kids meet outside to chat and play on the pavement. They are not allowed around the corner out of sight unless they pre-arrange with parents a visit to the corner shop etc. In this group the youngest girl is 9 and that's about how old DD was when she was first allowed out the front unsupervised.

Spendless

I live across the road from a playing field and park, but I can not see them from my house due to a building across the road. My road is narrow in places, reducing to one car width outside my house, but it's a short cut to avoid traffic lights and near to the school so very busy at certain times.

I have let my son (just 7) play outside occassionally but it tends to be when we are outside too, washing car for example so we can keep checking on him. I think I would feel comfortable probably around now if he was to play with older children and they kept together. There are some in the street, but he doesn't know them as they are not currently at the same school.

lottee

We live in a cul-de-sac off a cul-de-sac - if that makes sense! lol.

DS plays out every now & then, but we (mums/dads) take it in turns to stand at the door or kitchen window & watch them. There is literally 8 houses in our 'little bit', but it only takes someone to take a couple of wrong turns & they end up outside our house, so I think he is far too young to be left alone. There are a couple of older kids - 10, 11 who like to play the mother role with the younger ones, but even so, I still obviously wouldn't leave them to watch DS.

They don't stay out that long anyway - just long enough to ride their bikes/scooters, & they're back in asking for food/drinks!

victory

On this street we have a 'parent rota' which is really great idea, there are many kids out there always supervised by parents and if the mum needs to go in to put the dinner on or do some house-work whatever then she always knows there is another adult there watching the kids....

My kids are 6 and 13 (obviously the 13 year old has his freedom) but the 6 year old goes out and I too or the other parents and always he must say if he is going into someone's house or further up a bit to the park (he spends a lot of time coming back home asking can he go here and there but that is good!)

I can see him from the upstairs bedroom window, from the back gate, the other parents do the same so the kids are never left alone, if they go for a bike ride around the estate I go also or one of the dad's go....it is not such a bad idea to talk to the other parents and get a supervision rota going...it works!

funky-footprints

Becles wrote: »

We live in a quiet cul-de-sac and they were allowed out on bikes or skateboards etc., from about 3-4. They were not allowed to leave the street though, or go into someone elses house/garden without telling me first.

It worked well for us, but I don't think I would have let them out so young had we lived in a busier street or somewhere where I couldn't keep an eye on them easily.

Same here becles, the kids have a cut off point that they are not allowed past and they stick to it, if they want to remain outside with thier friends. All the parents are on a go slow in thier cars, tho most of the mums are stay at home anycase, so the main rush is dads coming home from work, or post/delivery drivers.

I have got an issue with one of the neighbours who seems to be running a bus business from his house, and his drivers seem to be appearing at all times using his house as a depot? but he is moving soon. If he doesnt I (and some other neighbours) will be making a complaint ..as the buses parking here during the day is getting silly, and im sure we have it written in our deeds about parking issues.