to think this is WAY over-protective (road crossing)

[5Foot5]

DD (Year 12) told us that when she and her mates were on their way home from school yesterday - a bit late so the usual rush had passed - they saw a Year 7 sitting on a wall by himself near the pelican crossing, looking a bit fed up. DD assumed he was waiting for a lift. However, when she and her friends went to cross the road he got up and joined them. Further enquiries revealed he had been told not to cross the road by himself but wait until there were other people he could cross with!!

It is a fairly busy road but this was at a pelican crossing FFS.

Surely IANBU to think a child of 11 should be trusted to know how to work a crossing by himself? Aren't his parents just setting him up for ridicule by imposing these rules?

Thats bloody mad! Am amazed the child did as they were told tbh!

That is an amazingly obedient boy!

It's only a few weeks into year 7. My guess is that he didn't make many journeys when still at primary (not even what should by year 6 have been a deeply familiar route), and a parent, realising the dangers of inexperience too late, has slapped on a lot of last minute restrictions in an attempt to recover the situation.

Either that or there's been a recent RTA in the family, and the boy is actually displaying consideration to very shaken parents.

Perhaps he has some sort of special needs whereby he struggles to assess the risk so his parents felt that was a safer way for him?

Having nearly been hit numerous times (by people driving with mobile phones/generally not concentrating) since I have been walking to school with my kids, maybe his mother has had similar experiences.

I suppose it could also be that he was nervous and felt that blaming his parent allowed him to 'save face'.

As my son has ADD and APD this is what I suggest to him, although I'm pretty sure he doesn't always follow the advice!

What if the people he was crossing with obediently were idiots & made a bad judgement?