Left alone in a park

Half an hour of boredom is absolutely not an issue for children, it's beneficial in this modern life of constant stimulation.
The ex does need to balance activities though, so it's not the same child always getting to do what they want, but if there's balance then absolutely no issue in that regard.

I would agree with you if it was several hours.

I can't get too bothered about 30 mins.

I also think it's not a bad thing for her to see her parent making time for health and fitness.

And I also personally don't have as an ideal of family life parents never putting themselves first, I don't think that is healthy

I'm sure the girl was safe from abduction or murder or whatever, but we do tend to set a slightly higher bar than that for our children. It just sounds a bit joyless for the younger daughter. Yes, kids have to hang around, bored, sometimes for the sake of getting family stuff done but I think the dad might have tried harder to find something that involved them both. It sounds like he was putting himself first during his contact time with his kids.

Pollok Park main playground for a sensible 10 year old with a phone would likely be fine. It's also got the reassurance of being just across a car park from a major museum/art gallery, so safety planning can include going there and asking staff (who are all very visible) for help. The course wouldn't run round and round the playpark but she'd be as safe there as in any park, really. It's one of the nicest parks in the city.

I haven't stated that nobody should go to school?
I have highlighted that these things happen &
recommended that parents read NSPCC guidance to help them make decisions for their child.

I remember when I first moved to Glasgow I was nearly 19 and was terrified encountering junkies and homeless people who would come try talk to me on my way home. They were nothing but lovely, but it was something I wasn't used to and was very disturbed initially.

There's also 'city kids', I've taken my kids to big soft plays in Glasgow and observed quite shocking behaviour from.other children towards mine. Body language that can only have been learned from very aggressive parents, certainly not something I had encountered at home and they were being very hostile and intimidating to other children.

I just think it's absolute madness to leave your kids unattended in a strange city for half an hour. I simply never would.

Also children are not grabbed and dragged. They are observed to be alone and someone comes to them and explains that something has come up and they've been sent by their parent to come and collect them and bring them to them. They follow as a child would their parent, to strangers it looks the same from the outside. A child after half an hour in a strange place is not thinking the same way as a child who has been in familiar surroundings confident that they know their options of where to get help. Most ten year olds I know would be anxious about this, and spend that half hour stressed and hypervigilant.

@Mygrandkidsaregreat why would anyone be sent to collect her? She has a phone and can ring her dad. She is in the same park as her dad. And she is in the playground for 30 minutes. She is 10 years old.

The idea is that when you're in a spot & you don't know what's the right thing or the wrong thing to do for your child's safety when in the company of an absent parent, you ask questions/seek advice from peers - other mums.

It's not about what any adult did as a child x number of years ago, it's about 'now' & sharing information that could help re-assure or flag up potential red flags to the OP re awareness and perception of her child's safety because the other parent seems a bit lax - in her view.

Not sure I’d be happy with this tbh. Do you have a password if anyone says my dad asked me to collect you or something like that?
maybe he asks one of the non running parents to look after her?
Thinking about it I know I wouldn’t be happy.Maybe give him a chance to explain?

@DemonicCaveMaggot just here to say I’ve got ….retrospective ..? envy of the mid 1970s you. That sounds like a fantastic memory to have.

For me, not ok in a busy environment she's not familiar with and knows no one.

And I grew up in the 70s not being mollycoddled..

How did DC10 feel?
I hope she got well treated after.

I wouldn’t be comfortable with it. Too many kids go missing all the time. Does she feel safe on her own? I know my son wouldn’t. At the local park bear your house maybe but in an unfamiliar place…no. What if she got hurt? The law is supervised up to approx age 12 or till mature enough to not need supervision or done such wording (check online). Ten is too young.

I would speak to ex but if it is to happen again I would refuse her to go or tech her up …apple air tag or similar (with her consent) and a mobile phone or deck one of those cheap watch phones £30 off Amazon. That’s what I did with mine.

Meghan Russell was murdered while walking home from school down a peaceful country road accompanied by her mum and dog. By your metric, nobody should go to school at all, even in the countryside, just not worth the risk. Build yourself a bomb shelter and don’t ever come out again, it’s the only way to be truly safe.

We did the same on holiday in unfamiliar places. Just applied basic safety and stranger danger rules.
Can agree the fact of her being on her own is more of an issue but pretty sure at that age I could navigate my way around plenty of places and in lots of other countries it is the norm ie Japan and Holland.
Suppose it all depends on the individual child. If she was unhappy about it then it's a problem.

If you went out with a group from work for lunch and then as they walked through the park the others said we've got to dicuss something confidential.
You can wait here and we'll only be about 30 to 40 minutes.
You like reading and there are plenty of benches to sit on.
We'll come by here on the way back.
In the cold. In winter.
And with no option to go off anywhere else or inside.
How would you feel.
Why is the only concern the likelihood of assault.
As if weighing up whether your car is parked in a safe location.
This is a person being left. Not something that might be stolen. Why are children less deserving of consideration.

From the OP's description of much of the course being through wooded areas it really does sound like it was Pollok Park. That used to be our local park and I'd definitely feel safer leaving my ten year old in the playpark there for half an hour than in a playpark in Queens Park or Glasgow Green. It is a country park in a leafy, suburban, predominantly middle class area and the playpark is usually busy with other parents. However, I'm guessing OP's ex doesn't have that local knowledge. The route also only passes the playpark and does not loop back via the playpark or end in sight of the playpark so lots of the assumptions about how long the child will have been out of sight for in this thread are likely to be wrong.

"They should have left her in the park after their run, then."

based on the risk assessment of some posters on this thread, apparently. Most accidents happen at home, after all. Dangerous places.

well as OP writes that "She messaged me to tell me what she was doing" I assume this 10yo indeed had a phone.

Why is everyone saying did she have a phone? 10 years should not have phones!!!!!!

They should have left her in the park after their run, then.

Child sexual abuse, physical assault, muggings (of children) & abduction is not uncommon.

Yes. luckily it is. Child abduction by strangers is very rare. How about you list all children abused or murdered by their parents and step-parents? Statistically she was safer alone in the park than staying home with her mum's new partner.

The last two children I named were not murdered by people that knew.
Child sexual abuse, physical assault, muggings (of children) & abduction is not uncommon. These are the facts.

The NSPCC guidance helps parents make a decision about whether their child is old enough to go out alone & what to go if they are worried, in danger etc.

Parents can disagree & make their own decision or but these are the facts.

@Wavescrashingonthebeach she was on her own, not with friends and in an unfamiliar city. So not really comparable to you toddling down to your local park to meet your mates...

Despair all you want@MerryMaker Why should a 10 year old potentially have to navigate that? Would you want to have to navigate that yourself? Having to wait, hurt, in the cold, on your own?

If she had fallen over she would have stood up and waited until her dad came back
If an adult said to go with her, she would say no and phone her dad

I mean she is 10, not 3. If a 10 year old can not navigate this, I despair