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

I know it’s online, that was my point. We tend to overprotect children in the real world and under protect them online, assuming they’re safe because we know where they are yet allowing them to have access to an online world that is quite often not suitable for small children (not saying you do this, it’s a general observation)

So what age do you think kids should be allowed out to play unsupervised?

Any child should be brought up to know they don't go off somewhere without telling an adult first. Whether 6 or 11

Again someone they trusted. Not a randomer who snatched them off the street

Yes I live in a 'nice' village/small town area.....there is a man goes around town and it has been detailed on a local page (he is easy to identify as he is quite unusual looking) that he is a convicted paedophile.He did time not long ago (not enough of course) for touching girls under the age of 13.So literally a real life threat to kids, right in the vicinity.
You never know who is about and many are opportunists.Its not worth the risk.

No. I have just sent my child to the local village shop (5 mins walk) on their own today have trialled this with a couple of their friends. My child is 10 and going into year 6 in September.

6 is incredibly young. There is no way I would allow a child of this age anywhere on their own

Yes they did, someone they knew and trusted and look what happened.

Giving a child a sense of independence aged 6 !
I know you followed behind without him knowing, but what if your 6 year old decided one day to head off out himself whilst you were busy in kitchen , hanging out laundry , whatever , because this is something he can do, so why not 🤷🏻‍♀️..
6 years olds should never be left believe it’s ok for them to walk anywhere without an adult …

Roblox is online and you can turn the chat option off. A child can be snatched or preyed on. I don’t think a 5 and 7 year old are sensible enough to be playing out. We as parents have to protect our children. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Even in a quiet village I would be worried about cars/ other dogs/ what happens if the dog is spooked and runs off. Yes, predators exist (always have, alas) and this is a concern at the back of my mind. But my biggest worry with younger children is around road safety/ similar. If I would not leave them alone at home, then I would not be happy with them going out of sight of me/ another trusted adult.

I've explained this to my newly 7-year-old. Even if he follows all the rules of the road, not everyone driving does. Not everyone stops at the zebra crossing. They often pull up sharp when adults are crossing - many of these drivers (especially in taller SUV vehicles, or vans) do not see children, and if they are going to fast to begin with/ distracted by phones or whatever else it takes less than a second for them to seriously injure or kill a small child.

Not a risk I want to take.

This is different to playing out, within view of multiple adults and in the company of other children. Though living in a city, 6 is still too young to do this without some adult supervision. It might be easier if there's a big field / village green in front of your home.

Absolutely not. What would happen if the child and very small placid dog encountered a large and aggressive dog on their walk? Although it is unlikely, what if they met someone who would want to harm a child?

I’d never leave a young child in charge of a dog, no matter how placid the dog might be. If he gets a scent and bolts, what is the 6 year old going to do, or if a reactive dog approaches. My 12 and 14 year olds take our dog out but I wouldn’t allow much younger.

I don’t know pp , I just think it is 🤷🏻‍♀️..
I think it’s fine if they’re with others , just not on their own that’s all ..

I am in Ireland , they start secondary at 12/13 ..
Not joking everyone drops their kids to school here unless it’s on their doorstep ..
I live a 20 minute walk away & everyone around here drops their kids ..
I do think when weather is nice it is good for them to walk , doesn’t happen though !.
I know that makes them sound lazy , my lads are sporty though so I suppose it could be worse 🙂

A poster once told me they were going to report Sweden as a country to social services as walking to school is normal as soon as children hit compulsory school age.

So gloriously Mumsnet! “Is it OK for a 6 year old to walk to the end of a quiet street and back?” “WHAT??? You’re wanting to let a 6 year old walk a mile down the hard shoulder of the M25????”
For clarity-I absolutely agree that he should not be in charge of the dog.

Do you let your kids play Roblox or similar?

Child sex offenders tend to look for their prey online these days, seeing as that’s where most kids are. Because apparently the real world is so unsafe.

Not in charge of a dog, no.

But MN users would be horrified at me because I let DS start playing out the front this year - he is 7yo.

Why is 10 too young to do a short walk to school on theur own? At 11 they will be walking to bus stop and getting on bus to secondary on their own, so if don't start prepping them at 10, then it will be a huge shock at start of year 7.

I do think 6 is too young to go put alone though, as per ops post

I allowed my six year old out “alone” around our close at this age…in fact I was following at a distance, hiding behind trees to give him a sense of independence but still make sure he was safe.

Holly and Jessica went into someone's house.

And besides most serial abuse of kids is by members of the same family or parents friends . So more likely at home

no

one lady left her 6 year old to sit at a table whilst she looked around the shops for 1 hour in Westfield White City

security was on her case and social services called.

unfit mum

Is 10 year old a typo? At 11 they'll be getting a bus or walking to secondary school.by themselves and you aren't planning to start let them build up independence before 10??

Have you ever heard of the Sarah Payne, holly wells and Jessica Chatman stories? I think this is completely irresponsible. There are many sex offenders living amongst us and your letting your very young children play out alone where you cannot see them. I do hope you give your head a wobble and start supervising your children.

Now who’s being ridiculous. I was answering the op’s question about a particular scenario. Not picking something random out of the air.

You're the one talking about "all the things that could happen outdoors." Plenty of other posters are talking about the danger of letting kids outside unattended.

I would tend to agree there might be more things that could go wrong with a dog. I don't have one, so I don't know.

But there is nothing wrong with letting a child of 5 or 6 play outdoors in a safe neighbourhood and the chances of them being suddenly attacked by a predatory man in broad daylight on a residential street in the type of area where there are always people outside is so extremely unlikely that for all practical purposes it's a 0.

No. !