To let my kids play football in the road?

[sandyballs]

It's a quiet road and they are 12 so not little. I've told them to keep the ball low and avoid parked cars and I've watched them and they do. They're also good at looking out for cars coming.

They told me tonight that a neighbour freaked out at them saying how dangerous it was and to get out the road. She has much younger kids. I'm just pleased weather is nicer, evenings are lighter and they're outside and not on some kind of screen. AIBU?

[NeoMaxiZoomDweebie]

I agree with Holly. A kid or two year old playing in a quiet road is a heart warming sight.

[ParadiseChick]

Yanbu

Outside is for people.

[ParadiseChick]

And we wonder why we have a nation of fatties and a crap football team!

[Sparklingbrook]

But roads are for cars surely Paradise. Driving rather than parking on, mind.

[PlasticLentilWeaver]

Depends on the road. Last place we lived, all the kids played in the road. At times it was almost a creche, there were so many, with occasional adults having a coffee and keeping an eye on the younger ones.

Where we are now, it would be dangerous.

[Badvoc]

It's not the 1950s.
Roads are busy.

[Sparklingbrook]

Yes, that's true Plastic. We live in a cul-de sac. Generally everyone drives slowly but there are the same few who like to come round the corner on 2 wheels.

[magimedi]

I live in a cul de sac and whilst the residents are fairly good about turning into it & driving up it slowly, not all visitors & delivery men are.

Tha's why I wouldn't let them play in the road.

[HollyBerryBush]

Where I live is speed-hump-central - whether the roads need it or not! Also the parking bays are alternate sides of the road, so there is no straight path to speed, it's like slalom skiing. Mind you I have 5 primary schools all in a 3 minute walk.

Summer holidays I don't like, when Y11 go on study leave in may and won't go back to school/college until October - the park is a complete no go zone - that is the trouble with affluent parents, they have no idea what their PFBs are spending the money on. Dope and alcopops usually.

[Rhino71]

It depends on the road. A cul-de-sac is great for playing out in, with a foam or soft ball. A busy road obviously not. Common sense is all that's required.

[sandyballs]

Thanks for all your replies. Seems an overwhelming majority agree with my DH! The road is very quiet, at the top of a very long hill which is a dead end. So it is only residents or visitors turning into our road off the hill. Or deliveries. Most people have drives, there are a few cars on the road but not loads. They're also not out there for hours every day. Usually just when a friend from down the hill comes up. Although I hear she did give our neighbour some lip .

"No wonder we are a nation of fatties with a crap football team" very true.

[TheChaoGoesMu]

Depends on the road. If it was a quiet cul de sac then its fine.

[VivaLeBeaver]

You've told them to avoid parked cars?

That's great but in reality it's only a matter of time until a car gets a dint from a misjudged kick. Are you happy to pay the bill?

[expatinscotland]

They need to play in a park before they invariably break someone's car window or wing mirror and then don't own up to it.

The road is not for playing football.

[expatinscotland]

'I love looking at old photos with children playing in the street and blitz ruins!

That's when we had a sense of community.'

And gangs of young teens and older boys roving around looting.

Now, in the 21st century, over 70 years later, the street is used for cars and transport instead of a playground.

[NightmareWalking]

YABU. Send them to the park. We live in a nice quiet road where no one speeds - until last week when joy riders managed to knock down a kid who had been playing in the road. He's still in hospital - not worth the risk.

[VinegarDrinker]

Young kids or bikes/scooters - fine, our (quiet, inner London, dead end) road is full of them and I like it.

12 year olds playing football when there is a park v close - not.

IMHO.

[GirlOutNumbered]

Hmm, I have a lovely football size dent in my car.
YABU.

[GoblinGranny]

We used to play football in the street as children. It was a very unmetalled road, and only 4 people in the street owned cars.

[BegoniaBampot]

depends on the street and OP says it's quiet. could they use a plastic or sponge ball. some parks have all sorts of undesirables.

[BegoniaBampot]

I play out in the street with my kids, waiting for a neighbour to say something as they think they are upmarket.

[GoblinGranny]

Yes, but these are 12 year olds. If they stick together and play in a group, they are unlikely to be bothered by undesirables.

[freddiefrog]

Depends on the road

I live in a tiny estate of 8 houses, we're at the end of an unmade track and the entrance is gated. All our kids play in the street and it's perfectly safe. They play football, cricket, tennis, build dens and camps, etc and it's lovely

I wouldn't let them out on a busier road

[Sparklingbrook]

There is a danger that a group of 12 year olds could look like undesirables sadly.