Would you allow a 6 year old to go out alone?

No but my youngest who is 8 in a few weeks was allowed to play in the park next to the house with his brother who is 2 years older. Now they are allowed to go to selected friends houses on our estate as long as they tell me first.

There are usually a small gang of them, right now there are 5 of them with my youngest being the youngest and the oldest being 12 racing round the park and the front of the house.

When school starts my eldest will be encouraged to walk by himself since he's starting year 6 but I'll be taking his brother anyway so I can keep an eye on him and hopefully his friends on the estate can walk with him too.

No. At 8 I let mine play out but they can't judge the speed of cars until at least then ( and can't be trusted not to do something daft despite the best of instructions).

No

No. 6 years old is far too young.

I’m glad to see most people agree.

No, that’s not safe or appropriate and allowing it would be very poor parenting.

Very same in my house , i’m sure taught in the majority of homes , you don’t just get up & walk out the door without checking in with mom/dad first ....

6 years old is too young to be out alone walking , walking a dog , across at park you can see from your kitchen window , wherever , I know it’s a minority, but it actually shocks me to see how many moms think it’s perfectly okay …. Not at 6 ….

That’s a bit of a pathetic response.

Well we had rules in place that I was confident that he would follow.
The main one was that he didn’t go anywhere without checking with me first.
It worked well for us and he grew into a very level headed teen who still follows similar rules.

Yes but with me following from a distance keeping her in sight. She gets to walk alone with the dog but I’d be there to step in if need be

I completely agree. We ship kids from one adult supervised activity to another, always a grown up there to direct play/activities/step in to resolve any conflicts. Kids never learn to do this themselves.
I think it builds confidence and resilience in them to allow them to navigate the world independently in an age appropriate way.

I mean I’ve seen posts on here about someone not ‘letting’ their 18 year old go travelling around Europe alone. We are teaching kids that the world is a scary place, and it can be. But it can also be bloody wonderful.

I live in Ireland , not Britain & if I lived in Timbuktu , I wouldn’t leave my child out unsupervised by an adult at 6/7/8 ! !
No one is saying they should be kept behind doors until they’re ready to get married fgs !!!
It’s what the appropriate age is , is what is being discussed here ….

As for playing out, usually 7/8 years old. With set rules on where they are allowed. My 8 and 9 yo often go out together.

Mine need to be aged 11/12 to walk a dog independently.

A hard no from me.

I don’t think @tonariever intended to return to engage. Almost as if just a discussion was required to mine views from.

Yes I would

It's actually not.

Children benefit massively from unsupervised play outside and they get hardly any of it in modern Britain.

We might think we're keeping them safe by protecting them from the miniscule chance of stranger kidnap, but actually we're robbing them of the experiences which help them develop confidence and independence.

There's a reason that a child abduction makes the news- it's because it hardly ever happens. Children being exposed to dangerous content online, children becoming too anxious to leave the house or go to school, children becoming obese from lack of movement - those things don't make the news because they happen every day.

You’re correct there

Look you have your view & I have mine , I’d say neither of us will budge on what we think so , 🤷🏻‍♀️

Why bother replying to me then if it’s not up for discussion?

I will never change my view on 6/7/8 years olds being left outside without an adult being right, & I couldn’t give a sugar about the different scenarios ..
There is plenty of time between the ages of 11 & 18 to teach children resilience with regard to the real world ….

Why is it any different at 10 then?

Yes , I understand what you are saying & obviously yes , every child like you say , regardless of whether they are 6 or 11 should always inform an adult if they want to go somewhere, point i’m making though is if a 6 year old is given the impression it is ok for him/ her to go for a walk alone , because they are only 6 years of age could get anything into their head & head off out, opposed to the child who never goes outside the front door without an adult, wouldn’t cross that child’s mind ….

6 is a little too young for me, but I allowed DS out at 7 - so only one year older. That doesn’t mean he thinks it’s ok to walk out of the front door whenever he feels like it. It’s quite simple to explain to a sensible 7 year old - that they can play out but they must get permission first, that they do not leave the area they’re allowed in.
This holiday I have even had to suggest to him to see if there are any kids playing on the park (I can literally see it from my front window)
He comes in and out every ten mins or so to show me a stick he has found that he likes or tell me about a friend he has made. He checks in regularly and he’s perfectly safe. This is an excellent first step in teaching children age appropriate independence. We can’t wrap them in cotton wool until they’re 18 and then expect them to have the resilience they will need to deal with real world situations.