What age would you/have you let your child go to the park unattended?

[savanahnana]

Understand this will vary massively depending on the child, but what age would you let your child go to the park by themself.

We live one house down from a play park and football field, in the countryside. Park not ever very busy, more often than not we’re there by ourselves.

I can’t see the park from the house however so it got me thinking what age my children would likely be before I let them go alone. They’re generally quite sensible quiet kids who would just happily play. I won’t say how old yet as would just like to gage a rough age on what others think is generally acceptable.

They all started in year 6 so 10 or 11. It seemed about right to me.

My kids are 6 and 8 and play unsupervised but it's right next to the house, they know not to leave the park out of the other 2 exits, the exit next to my house is on a dead end cul de sac and I can see a lot of the park from my upstairs windows.

They get about a minute before I physically go out and check unless I can hear them which I usually can with the windows and doors open.

I'm not a huge fan of letting them but it's one of the first steps to independence for me and them and in terms of risk of something happening very low. They aren't likely to get run over/wander off and we have gone over what to do if someone tries to take them which is one of the least likely things to happen.

In a couple of years they can probably go to the shop together which is about 5 minute walk away and no roads to cross.

Then after that my eldest will be in high school either one round the corner or further up the road and will need even more independence. It's a scary thought!!

I think letting go is hard for every parent and each milestone to independence is hard. The first trip to the park, first trip to the shop, on a bus alone etc but every adult went through it and most of us got through unscathed. The thought of anything happening to your child is terrifying but all we can do is teach them how to be independent step by step and hope for the best.

I've let my 8yo go to the park unattended but I walk him there then pick him up later. We live a bit further from the park than you do tho. Small town. I'd not let him go there alone if I wasn't also out in town. He's very sensible and knows all the places he could go to get help if needed like the town hall or library. He also goes to the library by himself. Again only if I'm in the town tho, despite us only living a few streets away I don't like the idea of not being available nearby if he needs me. I just do some shopping and it's only a small place so he could easily find me.

Probably 10 or 11. I'd still worry but I think by that age, as long as they are with friends, it's probably ok as long as it's not too far away from home.

Crikey my 11 yr old started going to the swimming pool and into town on the bus at age 10 whilst all these kids can't even go to the park 😳

Park is a minute walk from our house in a quiestish location but can’t be seen from here, I let my son start going at 7 and middle almost 6yr old goes with him sometimes. They’re both very sensible and have a phone that they have been taught to use to call if they need me and has location tracking. My eldest I didn’t let down there on her own until she was nearly 10 because she was a nightmare listening to instructions and I didn’t trust her to not wander off to a friends house or where she wasn’t meant to be! We see kids as young as 4turning5 go down there alone but we’re also quite a close community and there is always at least one parent down there.

Thing is, it doesn't really matter what age. If there's a predator looking for a child and they're without an adult then there's very little a child of any age can do. Which is why I won’t let my child out alone for a long time yet and she's 8 now. I go out and potter in the front garden whilst she plays on the path with a neighbour's kid/s. If that makes me a helicopter parent then so be it but after that 7yr old girl was murdered by that Amazon delivery guy whilst her mum was in their house, it's clear that nowhere is safe for them to be unsupervised now, tragically. It's very sad 😔
I used to play out all day from being 6/7, back in the late 80's/early 90's. We'd ride our bikes for miles! Wade through shallow rivers, build ramps for our bikes and all sorts. Our parents wouldn't see us for hours! It's heartbreaking but the world's just not like that anymore.

This. Gangs of usually boys making trouble or best case sitting motionless looking at their phones.
They aren't playing hide-and-seek or making dens for sure.

About 8

We have a small play park a minutes walk from our house. The road has a slight curve so from my front garden, I can't see the park. DD was allowed to go with a friend from age 8.

Child murders are no more common now than ever, it’s just perception.

Having just watched itv's documentary about the murders of small girls by Robert black id say 37

For a park on the same street I'd say about 9. Our nearest park is a 10 min walk and I'd say 10-11 years for that. But it's a very big park (one of the royal parks in London) so it has a different vibe to a local playground. Feels safe but often full of tourists rather than locals who might watch out for dc. But the parks have their own police force, and cafe/toilet staff. I used to go to a local park from age 10, about 7 mins walk and crossing a busy road with a pedestrian crossing. I'd be more worried about her dealing with the roads than dodgy people.

My DD is 7 & gets 30 mins of freedom time per week where she’s trusted to play on a little grassed area in our cul de sac with her friend from the next street. They know the rules, no speaking to strangers that they don’t know from the estate etc. they spend most of the 30 mins coming back for the loo/drink/snacks/to mess. I consider it a v safe area but you never know.

She doesn’t know, but I spend the 30 mins peeping through bushes!

Ours go to the park three minutes scoot away. No roads to cross.

Only when my husband home and they can take his phone so we can contact each other at all times..

They're 6, 8 and 9. Started when 6, 7 and 8 but one of us would usually follow us up a few mins behind then.

They're all extremely sensible and know to stick together

This is not and should not be a hard and fast rule.....depends where you live, how engaged the neighbourhood is in keeping an collective eye out and the group of children they are playing with....

Even the most sensible child at 6 should not be out alone unsupervised. I know it’s the thing to talk about how we used to be out all day, walk alone to school, etc, but everyone seems to have forgotten how vulnerable we were and how we got used to being, at times, in quite serious danger! For example, I remember at least 5 kids in my primary being hit by cars - neither of my teens know anyone who has been hit by a car. I was flashed numerous times as a child, to the point where we used to find it funny. My friend was sexually abused by a stranger in a park, in front of her brother, who didn’t know what to do. I was inappropriate touched by two older boys from the local area while playing out in view of our home. Apart from the car accidents, my mum doesn’t know about any of these things because I never told her, so she probably is one of those older people that bemoans how children used to be able to play out.

In your circumstances, I think 8 is reasonable. I used to live in a similar sounding setting and let my 8 and 6 year old walk round the corner to their friends' houses alone, no roads to cross, only when they were expected, not just going round on spec.

Depends a lot on the maturity of the child.

Dd will be 10 in a few days, we live on one of the main roads through our village however outside of school start and end it is relatively quiet. The park is across that road and then a very quiet estate road. She has asked to go with fitness when they have been over. They have phones so we see them across the main road and she texts when they are on their way back. This has only been a few weeks.

She will be getting herself to high school in a years time so I know that I need to loosen the apron strings a little before then.

She is a sensible kid and wise well beyond her years. So I have a little less worry over it.

There is no way I would have let her at 8 or younger, despite being sensible she was not risk aware in the slightest. But i do know other parents of kids in her class have been letting their kids go to the park near school since they were 6 and 7. The park is on a very busy road which has major issues with drivers who speed and ignore the zebra crossing. This terrifies me so she is not allowed to join them there so I am lucky it's in a different village that she can't get to me without me driving her.

Ultimately each to their own, if you feel like your kid is old enough that is pretty much all that matters. Just be ready to justify it if anything does go wrong.

When you say let the child go to the park alone - do you actually mean this, or do you mean to head off without you to meet friends ?

For us it was probably towards the end if Y6 for him to walk up to the park alone to meet up with friends . We have a smaller park over the road from us where he could go with a play date as long as I crossed them over . Also he used to do running around 9/10 a circuit from our house with no main roads .

I wouldn't be comfortable with the idea of a child alone in a village playground .

Sorry - the park over the road with friends after I had crossed them over was a younger age .

A quiet park would worry me more than a busy one.
@JLou08

That was my thought. Our local park is in a housing estate , open park with houses all around . It was crossing the road which was my concern . The idea of the empty village playground freaks me out - but that's probably because I've never lived in that environment- or I watch the wrong TV programmes !

8 or 9 if together with other kids. Alone probably 10 or 11ish

@AlfietheSchnauzer

I used to play out all day from being 6/7, back in the late 80's/early 90's. We'd ride our bikes for miles! Wade through shallow rivers, build ramps for our bikes and all sorts. Our parents wouldn't see us for hours! It's heartbreaking but the world's just not like that anymore

In lots of places it still is. My kids are having that kind of childhood and so are most of the kids in our Scottish town.

The only difference is they have phones with trackers.

My older 2 were 14 when they were first allowed to go to the park alone or with friends but our nearest park is just over a mile away. If we had a park right by our house I would say a bit younger, maybe 12. Where we live there are older teens threatening younger ones with knives and stealing bikes and phones at the park which makes me nervous.