To think it’s a bit negligent to leave your DC in a water park for hours at a time?

[Rainallnight]

We’re on holiday at a place with an on site water park. DD has made friends with a little boy who’s 5, with an older brother who is 8.

Their parents routinely leave them unattended in the swimming pool for 3-4 hours at a time, just showing up to get them for meals etc.

The 8 year old is a good swimmer. The five year old has an enthusiastic doggy paddle.

DP and I are quite anxious about water safety generally so I am wondering if I’m being uptight or if this is genuinely weird.

YABU - of course it’s ok to leave kids this age unattended in pools/water parks

YANBU - of course it’s dangerous.

Id be sitting on the side watching them if they were my kids

How would they reach the parents of they needed to? If one Fell over. Stubbed their toe? Needed their mum?

Accident waiting to happen

8yo can swim unattended in council pools round here. I think that’s why people are saying older one is fine. I’m happy to drop my 11 and 9 yo off at the pool and meet them after. I wouldn’t with a 5yo.

There has to be an age where you can leave kids unattended. It's part of growing up. 5 is too young. 8 is ok depending on how mature the child is. People saying they wouldn't even leave a 16 year old unattended is ridiculous.

I'm pretty chill about kids being left to it for many things, but not that age, and not a waterpark. I found it slightly nervewracking to be in a waterpark last year with my kids and BIL's family and we couldn't totally keep track of everyone at all times and DS was 10.

Wow. I’m on the more lax side and want to foster independence and cannot bear the babying type parenting I sometimes see but this is insane! At our local pool you need to be 14 to go on your own I let mine river swim from 13. No way before.

Have been to a big water park today and sign said you had to be 16 to enter the park unaccompanied. Anyone under 16 had to be accompanied by adult!

I cannot believe you need to ask this question. Imagine coming back to the pool to get them, and they are not there. Either taken, or at the bottom of the pool. Look after your children better

I've been told I'm a neurotic mother before, but I wouldn't leave a 5&8yo unsupervised anywhere. I don't mean hovering over them, but at least watching them.

I don't know anyone who would drop an 8yo off at a pool. Randomly I'm also considered an easy parent as my 9yo walks to school by herself... a whole 200m!

At our local pool they can in themselves at 8 but no way would I leave a 5 year old. And I’m not sure I’d even leave an 8 year old on holiday where it’s probably a lot busier, unfamiliar and the lifeguard situation might not be the same as at home.

As lots of people have said children are often allowed to swim unattended at age 8, as long as they are competent swimmers. One of my children is 8 and is a very good swimmer (not a Mumsnet boast, he swims competitively at a national level) and I still wouldn't leave him unattended for 3-4 hours at a time in a pool. I'm not overly concerned about his safety in the water but about his safety in general and the question of what if he misbehaved or annoyed other people (he's usually well behaved but he is 8 after all and may do something irritating that he just wouldn't realise was irritating to other folk)! In fact I wouldn't leave my 10 year old completely unsupervised for 3-4 hours somewhere like that either - I would be checking in on him periodically. Are you sure the parents aren't keeping a check on their kids every so often? Although even if they are a 5 year old non swimmer should not be left in a pool (or really any situation) with just their 8 year old sibling for supervision.

If you have Sky, search for 'Class Action Park' and download it. It's an education! Be grateful you are not in the USA.

Not a hope would I ever leave my child at any age near water unsupervised... where arezthey going that's so important some people are unreal

If they did think that OP, have them look up Madeline McCain on Google. There are idiot parents that leave even younger kids alone.

I think the rule in the UK is usually 8 y/o are allowed in the water without an adult but should be supervised by an adult as a spectator. At my local pool Age 12 and up can be entirely unaccompanied.

Coming from me when as a child of 9 who almost drowned in public swimming baths answer NO NO NO.then paedophile nutters everywhere.

I’m sorry and I don’t mean to sound mean

but did it only just occur to you to tell the staff?!? Surely that would be your absolute first port of call?!?

I wouldn’t even think of posting on here I’d of immediately told the staff and if I got no help from them I would phone the police. It’s incredibly dangerous leaving them.

I had a very free childhood myself, and tried to let my own children be free - but - there are no second chances with water.
A few years ago my 20 yo son and I rescued 2 7/8 yo girls from the sea. It was rough, with big waves, and exciting for adults, but if my ds had not seen that they were being pulled further out, those children would have drowned. When we got to them they were exhausted and terrified, they clung to us like octopuses. When we carried them to their parents they looked up,barely interested, and both went back to cooing at their baby. I was too shocked to say anything, but I wished later that I'd told them their daughters would definitely have drowned if we hadn't seen them.
Some parents either have zero imagination, or just don't actually care enough to protect their children.

I'm in the 2% who say you're being unreasonable. The reason why:

As I just mentioned on another thread, I grew up when hundreds of us kids would ride our bikes from all over to go swimming every day - in England. The pool was 2 miles from where I lived. I never saw anyones parent there. To be honest, I didn't know what my friends mother's even looked like. We had wonderful childhoods and none of us drowned. I know these days you'd be charged with neglect if you did what our mums did and, although I think that's a shame, I understand.

I live near a small town, really a village in the US. Population 900. All summer long you see little children running down Main Street on their way to the town pool, in their swimsuits holding their towels. No parents in sight. So it still happens. People just watch out for the kids.

I'm sadly not shocked by this. We've been lucky enough to go to west wales and Cornwall on holiday recently and the number of parents who let their 4yo+ go into the water swimming /bodyboarding whilst unattended was unbelievable. Ok there are life guards, but the number of people in the water and the currents I certainly would not risk it

You don’t have any children, do you?

I am fairly relaxed and appreciate the benefits of 'risk play' for kids but this IMHO is absolutely stupid of the parents. I wouldn't let the 8YO in the pool unless I was able to see them and I don't think I'd let the 5YO in the pool unless I was right in there with them

I've taken my nephew swimming when he was at this ability and I was terrified even when I was in the pool with him as even though he could technically 'swim' he kept going under water for that little bit too long and was obviously finding it quite hard work. I was actually more scared about him than my dd who was 3 and had armbands on.

I would definitely let the lifeguards know OP and maybe challenge the parents on it. Otherwise you're effectively going to be babysitting their kids the whole holiday and you're never going to forgive yourself if something awful does happen. It's crazy selfish of the parents to put that on you and even more their 8YO xx

Not only could they drown they could wander off, be kidnapped, slip and fall etc etc
Extremely negligent

It's a fine line. Leaving children unsupervised is always more dangerous than supervising them. But the main point of being a parent is to raise your children to become functioning adults, and to do that, you have to let them go off on their own at some point.