WIBU to send this child to the movies alone?

[annandale]

PILS have spoken to dh to say they think we were wrong to do this. They are more anxious than us but don't often interfere in this way, so I'd quite like to know what the balance of opinion is, because it is a situation that will happen again.

BTW I know that the overall opinion is likely to be 'it depends on the child'...

OK so imagine you have a holiday crunch point where both parents need to be elsewhere; you decide that at this age it is going to be OK for your child to be given a key and a tenner, and to walk 15 minutes on a very familiar route to go and see Inside Out on their own, to come back and be in the house for a further hour or so alone.

What age would you have arranged for your child to do this?

11 or 12.

Actually, with no major roads to cross - younger. 10 n

11/12

Secondary school age.

13

Completely alone or with friend(s)?
Alone I'd say 14

Secondary achool age too. At least 11.5yrs, so going into yr7.
The fact they went to see INSIDE out leads me to believe they were younger than that which I wouldn't be comfortable with.

Not sure how that became INSIDE out but you know what I mean!

11 probably. When they'll be letting themselves in the house and getting from A to B as part of the average school day.

12/13.

But if its your kid, the PIL's opinion is irrelevant. Tell them to sod off.

Over 12.

Under 12s aren't allowed in our cinema unaccompanied.

11 or 12

10

Same as other 11/12ish.

This had made me think. My DS is 10 and I've been gradually giving him more freedom particularly over the summer holidays. But I probably wouldn't let him do this yet. I'd say 11.

Agree with most of the other posters, would let my 11 year old do this but no way on this earth would I let my 8 year old.

Over 12 in my cinema.

DS is 11.5 so clearly he's on the young side which isn't surprising and will lead me not to push it further than this yet, but it's not way out of line. That's quite a relief, thank you.

I just wish they'd told me, not dh. I would have been able to say 'Oh but FIL it was you who told me all about going to the Saturday morning children's matinee aged 8 which made me think I needed to let ds do more things alone' whereas dh has been really low all day because he feels criticised by them

12/13 but if entirely alone I wouldn'tbe keen ever unless they really wanted to at 14+

12. How old is your child?

13/14! No way at 10!

My ds is 11 and i would not let them do this and i am a pretty lax parent when it comes to ds doing things on his own or with friends. Id say age 13 or over.

I think you are fine at 11.5. Try not to get too hung up about it. Inside out is a brilliant film, you should be more upset that you missed seeing it.

11 sounds fine to me.