Would you let your 11 yr old out for their daily exercise alone?

[Teacher12345]

8ish so not too busy and it is still warm. Would you trust them to socially distance? Would you let them go with you?

I wouldn't. I am happy for them to walk to school but I've noticed that there are gangs of kids around. Combined with quiet streets I just wouldn't feel comfortable

No.

It's not even dark right now at 8pm! 11 year olds are about to start high school, I think you need to trust them and give them a little independence. Yes I certainly would if I had an 11 year old.

As for the pp who said her 11 year goes to bed at 8. You're storing up a world of trouble for yourself.

Hmm not sure. My dd is 10 but looks younger and isn't very assertive so if approached by anyone dodgy, for example, I'm not sure how she'd react.
So no. But 12, yes I think so. 11 is very in between so depends what they're like.

Not at 8pm, no. I have a 13 and 11 year old and both have a lot of freedom. I wouldn’t allow either of them out at 8pm; at that time of night the only people hanging around the park are not people I’d want them hanging around with.

During the day, sure. I’m confident they would make the right choices.

Yes

No. X

Maybe not at 8pm but yes I’d let my 11 year old out alone.
In fact he went for a bike ride at lunchtime today by himself, he’s usually very active and does a lot of sports, being home all day is really getting to him and he’s like a caged animal, so he’s riding his bike to burn off some energy.

My 11 year old would be fine going out on her own, although she wouldn't want to but I wouldn't let her go out at 8 in the e evening.

I think it would depend on the child but generally by 11 why not?

My 10 year old goes out for bike and scooter rides by himself. As long as it’s daylight I don’t see the issue.

I wouldn’t. At that age they’re not strong enough to fight off an attack

An attack by who?

My 9yo goes out alone. Not at 8pm though.

Of course! She's always been sensible though. She's not does anything wrong why imprison kids? She needs to get out but can't always persuade her to come with me.

I've been thinking about this too. We live in a very busy area in London and there are a lot of police/officials about telling people to move on if they sit down etc... Which is why I've not done it yet. He normally walks to school by himself and gets the tube back.

No, every time I go for a run or take DS out for our daily exercise I see gaggles of teens/tweens. Some are on bikes some are dressed in running gear, they've clearly told their parents they are going out to exercise alone but instead meet up at the park/beach. I live in a fairly diverse area, the young people I see are both the middle class grammar school children from the big detached houses and those from the local estate/high crime area, to be fair the latter aren't dressed for exercise they're just put as they usually would be. Don't assume your child won't be tempted to meet with friends, even if you live in a nice little village etc.

Outside of lockdown, yes I would.

Depends on your local environment and how mature the child is.

I wouldn't but that is more to do with thinking he's likely to attempt to meet up with friends.

I was in out local park at the weekend and saw 4 young teens on bikes my guess is there parents don't care or don't realise that they were meeting up.

Yes, of course.

In my area yes I would allow my 10 year old to go a run or bike ride alone. Because people are practicing social distancing and there are no kids out playing. And because she is trustworthy, sticks to rules generally. If she comes across another friend she would say hello and move on.

If there were families allowing children out to play then i wouldn't allow her to go alone in case she fell into usual habit of playing with them.

DS is 11 and no I wouldnt but that’s based on him personally,his sister would have been ok. He’s NT but despite our best efforts his road sense isn’t the best. Luckily for him when he starts Secondary in September there’s no roads to cross and his sister has offered to walk with him for the first week too!

Not my 11 year old. He knows the rules, and wouldn't break them but he'd struggle to judge the distance he needs to stay away from others. So id worry about him getting ill, but probably more that he'd end up on the local Facebook page being moaned about !!

This just makes me realise why childhood obesity and mental health of kids is so high.
Let kids get out and embrace if they want a bit of independence and exercise. Kids are mollycoddled on their phones doing sweet FA in their rooms because parents are so scared of what I don't know

So many people seem to have missed the key factor in the OP. Lots of 11 years olds are going out alone. But at 8pm??

I wouldn't. 8pm is not a time my kids would be out aged 11 ordinarily so it's not a time they would be out now. There is no need for it either. They have all day to get out for their exercise.

Kids are mollycoddled on their phones doing sweet FA in their rooms because parents are so scared of what I don't know

Or maybe because their sensible parents like them to do their exercise outside during the day?