To let 7yo ds walk home by himself?

[LiegeAndLief]

Ds will be 8 in August and is in Y3.

We have about a 20min walk home from school. I already let him walk a little way by himself, less than 5min with two tiny cul de sacs to cross (I go another way round and meet him) to start giving him some practice at walking alone. He has asked to walk a longer way by himself. Would be about 10mins, with a further 3 roads to cross. These are busier than the ones he currently does but still pretty quiet.

He has been walking to and from school since reception on this route and I think has quite a lot of road sense. I often ask him to tell me when it is safe to cross and I can't ever remember him saying yes when it wasn't. We have talked about finding a safe spot to cross and what to do if eg a van is parked at his usual crossing point.

I was going to say yes. Dh thinks I am mad and he wouldn't be safe. I know there are children in his year walking to and from school by themselves so I can't be the only person who thinks this is ok! What is the MN consensus?

I'm 46, I walked to school at that age.

I also remember a lot of road deaths and children being knocked over. There were a lot less cars and if it was busy one of the "old ladies" who stood at their gate would, cross you over. There were women (or older sisters) all over the place who would intervene.

I also remember a lot of bullying etc.

My DD's played out, away from main roads at this age and could be left in, I'm all for age appropriate necessary Independance, but why you would put a child in a situation that they don't need to be in, I don't understand.

All of the roads close to schools are manic between 2.45-4pm, children are excited/tired coming out of school, it isn't a good mix.

You will have to use your judgement over the winter months, regardless of what your DS wants.

No , junior children are allowed in by dc's school my very mature oldest dd started walking home in year 3 but she was 8 and a half summer term. I think 7 nearly 8 is a bit too young.

No, too young.

Though I remember walking home at that age in the 80s, definitely at 8/9 year, and friends did likewise...

Our school is year 5 before they can walk home alone. That's about right IMO.

I wouldn't let my DS walk home alone or with friends at that age.

Year 5 would be the minimum, but I would prefer year 6.

That is what I did with my eldest DS and he is nearly thirteen now.

HTH.

What age is year 5, please? I use an alternative school you see.

Year 5 is 9/10 years old

I couldn't say one way or the other without actually seeing the roads in question. But I walked to and from school by myself from the age of 6, in various circumstances and two different countries. Never had any problem, and there was never a case of a child being injured that I can recall. Obviously that is anecdotal evidence and YMMV.

I would and have allowed DC (& did myself in a dodgy busier neighbourhood as a child), but social services will hammer on you for him spending even 1 minute alone, so not worth the aggro.

Somewhere like Switzerland you wouldn't even feel the need to ask.

Far too young. My ds1 is always super sensible, perfectly behaved around roads etc. The only time I've ever seen him around roads though is when he's with me.

Kids (boys especially in my experience) wind each other up and encourage each other to do stupid things. I wouldn't leave a 7 year old to walk home alone when they're with other kids.

Our school doesn't allow it till year 5 at least, they weren't overly keen on my dd1 doing it then and we live a 5 min walk with only one quiet road to cross away. He's too young.

Somewhere like Switzerland you wouldn't even feel the need to ask

Yes I was thinking this too. Scandinavian countries too. Are Swiss/Scandi children really that different from British or is the amount of traffic wildly different?

OP, I applaud you for considering this. Only you know your ds and how sensible he is. It's not a question of 7 being too young, it's about the individual child in question.

My 10 and 8 year old walk to school together, it's only 5 min and has a crossing lady so no major roads to cross but one cul de sac to check. They usually walk together with two friends but occasionally alone and lots of other people are walking up at the same time. I don't let them walk home on their own yet but that's the next step probably next year (so Y6 and Y4).

I think it depends on the child and the route, but in general people are overcautious in the UK, my husband walked to school (in continental Europe) from school age onwards, which was 6/7, so did all the other children. My friend just got back from Germany and said every morning at 8am, the whole place streams with tiny kids carrying their backpacks and textbooks to school.

I wouldn't. Ds started walking at the end of year 4 in preparation for middle school.

but in general people are overcautious in the UK

Isn't that the truth!

I wonder why....? We're not that different from other European countries where it's the norm are we?

The big difference is, in a country where all/most children walk to school together there is safety in numbers, fewer school run cars and drivers are aware and cautious about young children near the roads. On a busy road at school run time in the UK, a lone 7 year old deciding to cross will be unexpected.

Well I did this at 7 but then so did all my schoolmates so it did feel a bit different. We started letting Dd walk up a hill to us at the end of year 4 (we could actually watch her coming!). Then in year 5 she did a bit more and by year 6 she is obviously doing the whole walk back and forth on her own. She was amongst the first to walk any of the way home by herself but she is very sensible and grown up even though she is tiny.

The population of switzerland and the scandinavian countries all added together are still less than half that of the UK - that makes an enormous difference to the number of cars and traffic about.

No I wouldn't let a 7 year old do this.

If there were no roads then I'd say no problem, but the road crossing would worry me. A 7 year old is too young to be doing this.

lizzie, but if you add germany you are talkng big numbers.

lizzie I don't buy that. Smaller populations maybe, but in Swiss or Scandi cities is there any real difference in day to day numbers of people and cars?

If your year 3 child is keen to walk to school a d you are satisfied they can do safely , then yes, go for it.
DS sometimes wants to walk alone sometimes not. He is capable of it and does so some days. There are other families walking the same route and he knows the residents of about half the houses he passes. We regularly chat about what to do if...

My DS is 7.5 and I wouldn't let him walk home alone yet.

No way no. It's too far and it's not worth the risk. Here they don't let them out alone till yr5.

We literally live across the road from school and I wouldn't let DD who is 7 do that (although she wouldn't want to anyway!)

Wow - sorry but that sounds way too young to be walking that far.

It's obviously up to you but as my DS is only 6 but he definitely won't be walking anywhere alone for years yet.