AIBU 9 & 7 yr olds shouldn't ge left alone??

[eeyoreandpooh]

AMIBU to think it's not right to leave a 9yr old and 7yr old alone playing in a park while you go to the shop? Said shop is a car drive away - not just round the corner or over the road

If we're now comparing to other countries, in Switzerland it is expected that your 5-6 year old would make their way to school and back alone (or with other kids). Schools will send leaflets home about how important this is for their development. So are Swiss kids significantly more mature than UK/US ones, or is it more the hovering parents?

Singsong
Leaving children in cars in the US is about overheating

[[http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/21/living/mom-arrested-left-girl-park-parents/ if this is the article you are talking about then it doesn't seem that cut and dried and there seems to one or two cases but they have all caused a huge outcry against the heavy handedness.

I'm in the US and I never see DS's teacher (children go into and exit school independently except kindergarten) but can email her easily. When I was in the UK I didn't see his teacher either (working mum, used wrap around care ) and getting in touch with her was a PITA because there was an expectation that parents would be there at pick up (and to produce cakes / costumes etc overnight ...)

Children also get themselves to and from school from a much earlier age here (7 seems to be not uncommon) and because there are lots of children walking it becomes safer for more children to do so

Errr you can post links on a mobile :/ look, here's one
Http:mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat

Unless you can show us the articles you mean, then the point youre trying tobmake doesn't mean anything.

I could say 63% of all 9 year olds walk to school alone, oh? The proof? Oh umm well I'm on a mobile so you'll just have to take my word as fact....

So the very first link I found was this
www.cnn.com/2014/07/21/living/mom-arrested-left-girl-park-parents/

Which is where the mother left the child there whilst she was at work. Now, this is not the same as leaving them for ten minutes or them going to the park with their friends for a bit. It also is all

So unless you can find an actual article that is a similar case then I don't believe you :/

here are some women who claim they were indeed arrested after leaving their kids for a few minutes
www.salon.com/2015/04/19/what_a_horrible_mother_moms_arrested_for_leaving_their_kids_in_the_car/

this story from America sprang to mind

At 4 and 7 my big sisters were playing in the local swamp... I remeber spending the afternoon in the park with my friend Peter (his house overlooked the park, but his mum wouln't have been able to see us) when we were 4 years old, right as we had started primary school, when it was just mornings for the first term - we made boats out of fallen leaves, so it was October time... I despair slightly of the overcautious world we live in today...

I walked to school from the age of 4.5, with my best friend who was 6. Now my children are not permitted to walk to school alone until they are 10, and then only with written permission...

So, are any of those mother's unfit? Or is it just an over reaction and a nanny state?

If you can't leave a child in a locked cool cat for four minutes without someone calling the policeans them actually responding to it days later and charging parents, then it is a real shame that resources are being wasted this way.

Atvwjat point does it stop? Are you now not allowed to wait outside the toilets for them? Should you go in and wait outside the cubicle? Or is that too dangerous?

Also comparing a four year old to a 9 tear old is not entirely fair.

So unless someone can show an actual article that shows a parent being arrested and actually charged with an offence for leaving their 9year old for a few minutes... ?

Where does it end hey? Well definitely not at 7 and 9. I think the teenage years are plenty early enough for kids to start spreading their wings a bit more.
The comment I made re the US was in reference to a previous poster who had said that kids there travel to school alone etc. My point was that actually that seems not to be supported by online evidence. And 001, there are loads of stories online and I really can't be bothered to copy them.

Must add, how would it be a few minutes? We're talking about kids going to the park! I don't know any child who only does that for a few minutes!

its up to you, singsongsung, but i would feel irresponsible waiting til my kids were teenagers before letting them go to the park alone. its much more dangerous for teens to be out and about.

Well singsong, if you can't be bothered to actually provide any sort if proof to your claim, then what you said means nothing.

You misunderstood the few minutes thing. There are two different situations here
A 4 yo left in a locked car for a few minutes
A 9yo allowed to go to the park alone.

These are different situations.

Also, at what age is it acceptable to let a child go to a park? You say teens? What age though? You said earlier that a reason not to let a 9 yo go is because you don't know who is around. At what age do you think a child could cope with a potential attacker?