to not want high-school children to hassle my dd (7) when is on the playground?

[geekgrrl]

Am really rather peed off and sad about this.
We live in a little village and our house is just down from the village playground, which we pass on the way back from school.
I have started to drop dd1 (7) off there after school so she can have a play - it's a shite playground for younger children, so dd2 (5 with SN) and ds (3) are best kept out lest they get smacked in the face by the roundabout or fall off one of high, open platforms.
Dd1 has made a good friend, another little girl her age who goes to a different school and also lives by the playground, and they happily spend an hour there after school.
Unfortunately, it now appears that the children from high school hang out there when their bus returns, and dd1 was innocently telling me all about it - how this boy was quizzing her, and saying that he'd been to Uranus (dd1 was impressed with his space travels, bless her) etc.
I don't mind the big kids hanging out on the playground. I do mind them not just ignoring dd1 and her friend and telling them filthy stuff for fun.
What do I do? Go up there and have a word with them? (Really hard because I've got the other two with me) Or tell dd1 to not talk to them and to leave if they try to talk to her?

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I find that if I approach kids this age, very directly, but politely and nicely, they usually rise to the challenge and behave in a much more mature way.

I also think that 7 is too young.

being practical there is nothing that the schools can do to stop this sort of thing, since the kids are not on school property.

If you have a word with them, it may help for a while, or they might just tell you to Fuck off. Or just look at you blankly, deny everything and laugh after you go.

Sorry, but 7 is too young to be there without an adult, esp if she's getting hassled by big kids.

I wouldn't leave her there alone at 7

7 is too young to be left

sadly older kids do take advantage of younger ones

Agree with other posters,I think seven is too young to be left.

I would not leave a 7 year old alone in a play ground.
What is the high school kids stop and some dirty old man starts.

Sorry but 7 is far too young.

mmh so the consensus is that 7 is too young?
(dh thinks so too but as I grew up in Germany my views are a bit different)

it's a shame because there are quite a few other children her age out and about around the playground without a parent, and she really likes this new friend she has made (whom she wouldn't see otherwise). But you're right, it could be a dirty old man next...

My Dd2 is 7 and I wouldn't leave her there alone i'm afraid.

I wouldnt even let my 10 year old (if I had one lol) alone in a playground!

I know you said a little village but bad things unfortuantly happen anywhere

it's difficult though because so many children here are let out alone from age 5+ and obviously dd1 sees them on our way home. And she's been having problems with friendships at school and is so happy to have made this new friend.

Could you have a word with the other girls mum and perhaps arrange to take turns at each others houses for the girls to play for an hour?

I don't think 7 is necessarily too young geekgirl. And it's a shame that you feel the need to curtail it because the teenagers don't know how to behave. Have you speken to the other girl's mum. Could you take it in turns to be an adult prescence?

In our road they play out from 3/4 (obviously not mine lol)

It is really awful, last month one of the 4 year olds was knocked over

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I disagree cod. I think 7 is too young to be without supervision, in a public place, whethr there are big kids there or not, whether nice little village or scary london.

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WEll I grew up in Leeds so perhaps I see things differently. Even though I now live in teh cuntry, I wouldn't.

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lol at 'cuntry' Is it nice there?!

yes

People who grew up here happily let their dc play out aged 7 btw

and they leave their doors unlocked, seriously

I think I'm seen as a right freak!

Last month there was a discussion on football in the road, and kids should go to the park wasn't there. Kids of all ages. I tend to think once the bigger kids are around, the smaller need supervision. But the bigger kids presence might discourage the dirty old men?