When do you let a child out alone??

poe.tuesday

tanith wrote: »

EDIT: just reading back through the posts again and please please you cannot be seriously thinking of walking or taking your senior school children to school.. it really is beyond reason that kids actually need a parents company when they are at high school...

In 2004/5 there were 1028 child abductions in England and Wales, 60/70 of those were by strangers

Over 170 children are killed each year when walking or cycling and 4800 children are seriously injured each year whilst walking or cycling

I think that those stats are enough of a reason for parents to keep their children company, no matter what age their child may be

tanith

I am sorry but regardless of those stats you have to let you child grow up... a child that is wrapped in cotton wool will have no confidence in their own abilities.. are you going to be walking your 14/15yr olds to school ? ...

specialK

poe.tuesday wrote: »

In 2004/5 there were 1028 child abductions in England and Wales, 60/70 of those were by strangers

Over 170 children are killed each year when walking or cycling and 4800 children are seriously injured each year whilst walking or cycling

I think that those stats are enough of a reason for parents to keep their children company, no matter what age their child may be

Totally agree with you here, we don't live in an ideal world.

When my DD started started senior school, a boy from her primary school who attended another school was kidnapped and beat up over a 2 hour period and hospitalised for 2 months. You did not hear a thing in the news.

Children from my DD's senior school and DS's primary school have been approached a few times by 'strangers in cars', again you only hear of this a few weeks after the event as they do not want to cause unneccessary worry

A few weeks ago a 6 year old girl from DS's school was killed when a idiot driver mounted the kerb and left her for dead, she was with an adult.

I stand outside the primary school waiting for DS and youths raz past on the pavement on their quad bikes, filming their antics. Cars fly past without a thought for anyone else.

So some of us live in fear when we are with our children and the thought of letting them venture out alone is unthinkable.

Like someone said, we know the area we live in and I for one am not bothered what people think of me. I have a harder job because of this, I am not locking my kids up and that is it, I have to keep them entertained and make them feel they are not missing out. My children are not messed up from not playing out and we have a great relationship.

Why should I let them out into the unknown just because it is expected that they should be by a certain age, whilst I am sat at home sick with worry?

Spendless

Roxie- I was over at our park with my 2 (aged 8 and 5)about 5.30ish, it was full of local kids, so I did a quick nosey to let you know what is usual in our area. There was about 20 kids, the majority in yr 5 (9 and 10 yr olds), there were a couple of yr 4 children who live at houses that back onto park and a couple of yr 3 kids who were with older siblings/friends. There were 2 teenagers (snogging:D ). I was the only adult there.

When you are ready to let yours play out, it sounds wonderful that they have a playing field close, that you could watch them out of.

all the best.

xx

specialK

tanith wrote: »

I am sorry but regardless of those stats you have to let you child grow up... a child that is wrapped in cotton wool will have no confidence in their own abilities.. are you going to be walking your 14/15yr olds to school ? ...

I hit the thanks button by mistake

My children are both confident youngsters. They are both high achievers.
School teachers told me how I thought they would benefit from playing out as there was no problem in anything I was doing.

If I kept them in and left them with nothing to do, they would end up a bit messed up. Like I said, I make sure they are entertained and we have alot of family time. We are more like friends. A child who is praised and told how they can be anything they want to be is a happy confident child, not one who is left to play out because no one has any time for them at home!

I am not saying those of you who let your child out have no time for them! My friends all allow this.Comments like this annoy me, without living the life some people live don't make assumptions based on your own life.

poe.tuesday

tanith wrote: »

I am sorry but regardless of those stats you have to let you child grow up... a child that is wrapped in cotton wool will have no confidence in their own abilities.. are you going to be walking your 14/15yr olds to school ? ...

maybe, maybe not, it depends on what the big wide world is like out there once they reach that age

I will weigh up the 'letting them grow up' against the dangers they may face by walking to school, however, there is far more to growing up than being permitted to walk to school

Spendless

My eldest will have to make his own way to and from secondary school as they'll be no alternative. I have a child who is 3 years younger too who will be at junior school then and I can't be at 2 schools in 2 different villages at the same time. There is a school bus, but as I mentioned earlier, the secondary school has closed before with little notice and no transport home. For this reason I will be making sure that he is confident walking alone, crossing roads etc before he reaches yr7.

izoomzoom

Suppose it all depends on the area you live in, the age of your children, their stranger / danger awareness etc.

Each child and their environment is a unique situation ...

RoxieW

Hi thanks everyone- really good to get other peoples opinions. I must admit that I raise a few eyebrows about the 5 year olds out playing on the street and did think perhaps I was being overprotective mummy but it seems I'm with the majority.
Our culdesac is a very nice, quiet area - as are the surrounding streets. The shop is at the top of an adjoining street ( you can see it from the end of the culdesac) and the school is past the shop and up a further street. There is one semi busy road (but still not a main road) and 2 small street roads.
As i said, my oldest is as sensible as they come and today dragged his brother off of his bike because he failed to slow when passing a driveway and big brother was worried in case a car may be backing out (there wasnt). Not in a nasty way - just to prevent him from the possible danger.
All that said, I really wouldnt feel comfortable letting him out alone at the moment - will review it in a year or 2's time! Just glad to know I'm not cotton woolling them as hubby seems to think.
Thanks again for your opinions.

moggitymog

I read once that children can't judge the speed of traffic until they are around 8 yrs old, this may be worth considering.