To think this is unsafe

[hibbledobble]

Not something I have done or are thinking of doing. I'm interested on opinions on this.

If while camping, you decided the tent was too small, would you send your 10 year old child to sleep away from the tent, alone in a parked car? Would you then send the 8 year old to sleep alone in the car the following night?

We had this when we were kids (1970s/1980s). Never thought anything of it at the time. There's no way I'd let my kids do it now.

We also used to lie in the boot of the estate car as it whizzed up th motorway.

It's not just about risk though, is it? You were ten years old and alone in an unfamiliar situation. Not right that you or your sibling were made to sleep separately in that situation. Or that your feelings were not acknowledged. Either one parent should have slept in the car or they should have got a bigger tent.

One of the adults should have gone to the car. Or one adult and a child.

They shouldn't have sent you alone if you were scared. And shouldnt have called you inconsiderate.

Why was their comfort the most important?

No doubt it was scary at the time, but don't think you should dwell on it. Times are different now, in those days things were done differently. They may have thought you were safe and warm in the car.

[They shouldn't have sent you alone if you were scared. And shouldn't have called you inconsiderate.]
If you had been asked beforehand and were happy with the arrangement then that would have been OK. Hope you feel more confident now and not put off by camping.

I was sent out as there wasn't enough room in the tent, there was no asking involved. This is just one of many unusual experieneed from my childhood. It's only now that I have children that I can look back and think these are certainly not the way I would do things now.

dojo you're right, I wasn't thinking straight there!

It really annoys me when people say 'that sort of thing happened in those days , things were different in those days' , yes things were different but leaving your child to sleep alone in a car wasn't the norm , it only happened to people with feckless parents who cared more about themselves than their children , in exactly the same way that feckless parents mistreat their children now .