to not let my 8 year old ds play outside

[GwenTen]

We live on a fairly busy street with no cul-de-sacs, quiet bits of park etc. For the last few weeks ever, since one of his classmates (a girl) has been calling round for him to pl;ay, he has been moaning at me to let him play in the street. I have no problem with her coming in to play which she has, but tonight another girl has called round for him and they have been in and out of the house with me following them up and down the street like a mad thing.

I can't understand how mothers can let their kids roam the street without knowing where they are.

AIBU?

So making a cup of tea is a sign of independence and readiness for high school - they must teach that in year 6.

But seriously I think expat has it right - its the older ones that they may encounter with all the effing and jeffing, drinking etc

seriously, I8toys, the number of dd's friends who were not even allowed to touch the kettle aged 10, let alone do anything else that might involve the slightest element of risk or need for independent thinking

children moving up to secondary came as a nasty shock to some of those parents

Our DD age 8 1/2 is not allowed to play on the street for very good reason! With a blind corner right outside our house, lots of lorries doing over 40mph around it and a footpath not wide enough to push a buggy along I may as well tell her to go commit suicide! She can also be very dreamy & I have always worried about that road. On the plus side we have huge front and back gardens. I just wish I could trust her to cross the road/walk along it without the worry of traffic! I don't think I am being unreasonable though

Read this with interest. My older 4 dc's played in the street from age 6, a big deal was made that at 6 they could go out the garden gate unaccompanied and play in the cul de sac. They saw 6 as a step towards adulthood, being trusted etc. but we lived in a safe area (few cars and lots of families looking out for each other's dc's) and the older 2 were really sensible so by the time the younger 2 were out they naturally watched out for them. AFter a big gap we have 2 more dc's, our 9 year old ds would LOVE to play out ... we now live on a very busy A road near town and he is just too impulsive to trust on his own, we are assessing the situation constantly and hopefully it won't be long. Just got to judge your own situation and your children. Very few primary children walk to school on their own here (I don't know any) and the 9 year olds generally are only just starting to go up and down the street calling on each other (with mums peeking through the bushes watching!), so he does go round friends to play unaccompanied - usually invited by yelling across back gardens. We are out a lot as well at the park, where I plop down and the dc's go off and play freerange with a time to come back and clock in. Works for us.