I was raped beamur and I was very far from the only one.
This is very raw for me to hear people saying it is fine it is just dog walkers and tennis players. It really isn't. I lived in a very nice area, it just changed. Cars would cruise in with different men from outside. It was not good. Not anti social especially, but dangerous nonetheless.
Of course that is how it starts 'just a bit of independence', I used to have to be home before 6pm for dinner, and that was probably fine. Then my time to be home was moved to 7pm. 8pm and 9pm as I grew a little older, but not much older and thats when the trouble really began.
A park after dark is a very different place, and the winter is for half of the year here in the UK.
Once you have agreed they can go, then you can hardly change it. You are committed then to allowing your child to see and experience all the park offers, and seedy is a good description.
I so wish my parents had said no, like my friend, who was not allowed to go. She grew up with a different life experience to mine put it that way, and her house actually backed on to the park (perhaps it was her parents knowledge from their top floor of what the park actually means was the reason for not being able to go) I used to wish I was her even back then, I used to see her as cared for and loved child.
If I can make any difference to the outcome of a child on here, by asking parents to check out the parks their children are going to, don't assume they are safe because they are nice when you are there with toddlers. Then some kids might avoid the outcome we had to endure. Some of my friends died a few years later, from accidental OD, from suicide and other things. I didn't fare too badly compared to some.