10 year old looking after 5 year old

[tessie31082]

Hi all, so my 5yo told me today that his DD left him with his girlfriend's 10yo while they looked around at a car festival last week! I am seething, I'd never let a 10yo be by themselves either! AIBU and should I say something next time he has him?
Thanks x

I would definitely let a 10 year old 'walk around' a car festival (of stationary vehicles) for half an hour, yes, providing they had a means of contacting me, weren't too far away from me, were responsible and well-behaved etc.

What were the exact circumstances? Where was the 10 year old minding the 5 year old and for how long? How far away were the parents?

I think you need to get the full story first. Could it have been when they were getting food?

What were the circumstances? I have no objections to a 10yo wandering around an enclosed festival though.

I’d be mad too.
Was it for 5 mins or 1 hour tho? Kids’ concept of time can be all over the place.

Depends entirely on the kids themselves, length of time, proximity of parents. My DD would have been fine at 5 with a sensible 10 year old for half an hour.

It depends on the context. My friends older dd used to 'mind' dd when she was a simliar age and dd was a toddler, dd in her turn did the same with other dc from being about 9.

In reality they were both entertaining the younger dc with an adult doing the actual supervision.

"I'd never let a 10yo be by themselves either" . That's bonkers. The vast majority of 10 yos are going to have to get themselves to secondary school independently in a years' time. That's going to be one mighty shock if they've never been allowed out of an adults' sight until that point.

As for the 5yo, without more context, impossible to tell. Doesn't sound too awful on the face of it, though, for a short while in an enclosed space.

I'd be fine with my dc doing this.

My ten year old will have to get across town to school on two public buses in September. I'd be concerned if he needed constant supervision.