To think 8 is far too young to be at the park alone?!

It depends a lot where you live. The closest park to me attracts people that i wouldnt want my child alone with. Its fine in the day but by evening there is ocassionally people taking drugs and the odd alcoholic passing out. So we insist they go in groups and an adult walks down at the start.

You engaged a strange 8 year old on his own in conversation, quizzed him about where he lived and his family pressured him to leave with you? I think you should e the one e pectin a knock-on the door not his parents🙄

I then left with my son and encouraged the boy to come with us,

WTF did you do that for?

I think an 8 year old is fine playing in a park 5 mins from home. My 8 yo plays out and goes to a playground out of sight of the house.

I agree with you op kids that young should not be going to the park by themselves. Just because it's daylight doesn't mean shit, a lot of kids are abducted, raped and murdered in daylight. But that's no bother as long as they got some independent fresh air beforehand 🙄

I live in a small town in Scotland. It's perfectly normal round here to see kids of 8 out on their own.

Do you struggle to catch a train OP?
After all, there's been a few derailings.
How about drive? There's car crashes everyday.

Child abduction is very rare in the UK, children are more likely to be bitten by a dangerous dog or hit by a drink driver email etc.

There are almost certainly more children killed in house fires than are abducted by strangers from a park. So if you were to look at risk in purely statistical terms he is probably safer at the park.

So it's not all about probability really, it's about using your judgement. His parents have judged it to be ok. The vast majority of parents care about their children and don't want any harm to come to them, so presumably they have weighed the risk against the benefits and decided they are happy with the level of risk. There can never be a zero risk option.

So an 8 year old cycling in the middle of the road, not over to one side, and talking to strangers is having sense then?

Were there any cars coming? Obvs not, if there were I expect he would have moved over.

Talking to a mum with a kid in tow is probably one of the 'safe people' things his parents have taught him - I taught my child the same.

Report to the school a child was out playing?
Do you not think teachers are overworked enough without some mollycoddling mummy telling tales? It’s not the schools job to police kids 24/7.
You are ridiculous.

So what is your AIBU? As you clearly don’t think you are, so...

But you have to work on the basis of likelihood of risk. Anything COULD happen at anytime and children do have to learn independence somewhere along the line. Adults get killed / kidnapped very occasionally. It's awful but not a reason to never go out. As many people on here will tell you, the vast majority of child abusers are not strangers.

OP get a fucking grip and stop with all the horror stories, unwrap your child from the cotton wool and give him some independence.

You clearly don't think you're wrong OP so pretty pointless asking really.

Everyone’s risk threshold is very different based on their own experiences and views. My 8 year old plays out and goes to park alone. We live in a small town, know everyone there are no roads to cross and she is very sensible. She has a watch and is allowed for a set time. If she is late back (not that she has been) she wouldnt be allowed again.
She will walk the 10min (with one manned crossing) to school on her own next year. It’s very common from this age where we live.

My brother lives in a big city and his 9 year old DD isn’t allowed to play out - busy road, don’t know neighbours, slightly less sensible child.

It’s situational. In my DD situation it’s fine. In others it might not be.
I want my child to have little bits of independence (partly the reason we live where we do) so that she doesn’t get to high school and be unable to make decisions or choices when out and about because she has had no experience of it.
Children are far more at risk from their parents/other family members/neighbours than from “Myra Hindley” characters.

It's his parent's decision to make though, OP. Presumably, they know him better than you and, tbh, a woman with a similarly aged child is very unlikely to be on the hunt for kids to abduct. Yes, it happens, but it's like that Manchester Arena concert - do we stop kids going to all concerts in future in case something bad happens?

YABU. Many 8 year old can cope with going to the park 5 minutes from home. On quiet residential streets, riding your bike down the middle of the road may well be the best way to cycle - avoiding parked cars and people pulling out for example. 6.30 in midsummer is in no way late or dangerous.

When I was younger I always remember being told that if I was lost or needed help that I should approach a mum with children. It’s not like he was making chit chat with a bloke wanking in a bush.

After a van with dodgy men where stalking a number of boys in the age gap 7-10 in our town there is not many kids allowed out on their own. The men went to different parks but fortunately none of the kids where on their own, had phones and knew to report this back home. Alerts to all the parents in town was sent and police became involved. No one was kidnapped but it can happen to a lone child 5 minutes from home. These kids all lived close to their respective parks.

It's a little young but not ridiculously so. He was only a short distance away from home and 6.30pm in mid summer is not particularly late to be out.
He got home safely and was simply chatting to you - not getting into a strangers car or anything more risky.
I think you need to accept the parenting styles of different people vary and people have different risk tolerances.
You are being rather interfering IMO. It wasn't your place to tell him when to go home or where to cycle.
How old is your own child?

YABU. all kids are different. My DD is 8 and if we lived near enough a park I'd let her go alone. My DS is 10 and I can't see him being sensible enough to do much on his own for some time yet. In the quiet village where we used to live kids from 8ish would be playing out after school this time of year.
Cycling down the middle of the road.. What sort of road are we talking about? Quiet little estate road, YABU, main through route, maybe yes not ideal.
Talking to you, meh. You had a small child with you. He didn't get in your car, he was on a hike so could have ridden off if he felt threatened. I actually think it's not helpful to teach kids not to trust adults or ever speak to them given that 99.9% of them will be safe and help them if they are in trouble.

Mine were both very capable of playing at the park by themselves at age 8. I never taught them not to speak to strangers either, just not to go anywhere with them but no harm in having a chat. They're much more at risk statistically of being hurt by someone they know and you never know when you might need the help of a friendly stranger.

Not atall unusual where I live. Which is good!

Depends entirely on the child and the environment I think! Some 8 year olds are totally fine to do this, some absolutely wouldn’t Be.

Cycling up the middle of the road is actually probably pretty safe when it comes to being visible. 630 pm isn’t late at midsummer. You were obviously a mum with a son with you and probably not dangerous! Sounds fine to me, but hard to say 100% without seeing the park/ knowing the kid.

We live next to a park and it’s always full of kids from 4/5 years old up. The majority of them are totally fine, look after each other, are called in regularly and are happy to be out playing. Some are obviously too young or are neglected and I have reported some of them. Three of the kids that i’ve Reported have subsequently been taken into care ( not just because of my actions, other things too) .

There’s two kids at the moment I worry about. But beyond keeping an eye and being kind, there’s not much I can do. There is a big community of kids and families that have them on their radars. Hopefully they’ll be looked after by the community.

My two both have special needs. I would absolutely love them to be playing out. Sadly I have to be there too , but I try to be surreptitious so they get the benefits of feeling independent and confident with their peers .

YABU. He's eight, it's broad daylight. Children are wrapped in much cotton wool these days.

Talking to another mum at the park with a kid?

Honestly I think you were being pretty creepy asking him so many questions and getting him to follow you.