DD been away with her dad but was allowed to soft play on her own.....

[MyLifeNow20]

With her 8 yr old half brother.
They have been to Little seas weymouth and stayed in the orange section. DD7 and the half brother walked to the soft play on their own to play.
I picked her up tonight and its been playing on my mind, why would she be allowed to walk 5 mins on her own out of sight? Apaprently they had walkie talkies too

Yeah this, because bad people don't go on holiday to holiday parks 😂

I absolutely would not be letting a 7 and 8 year old leave the establishment were in (caravan, pub, hall, whatever) to go on their own somewhere and play for a period of time.

I'd allow them to nip to the shop and back because I could know they'd be back within 10 mins and to look for them if not. But soft play? How long were they out of sight and unaccounted for?!

Nope, not on my watch. Although OP I don't think there's much you can do. I wouldn't bother raising it as it won't change anything.

Yep as there is anywhere. A 6 year old girl got taken into a secluded wooded area but a suspected stranger the other day, was sexually assaulted, then released quickly back to family. It was all over the news looking for the perpetrator.

There are a lot of scary people out there, sadly.

I wouldn't have done it and the parents in this area that I know with children of a similar age wouldn't either. What happened to "lessons will be learned" everytime something awful happens to a child?

@LastWordsOfALiar
I was just about to say this .
So totally shocking.

As for @Coyoacan I don’t like your post about “stranger danger” as it’s a weird thing to say in my opinion.

I went on a date a few years back with a social worker. He said if he had kids he wouldn’t ever take them to caravan parks as it’s where all the paedos hang out. He said Haggerston was rife and they all watch the kids and nothing can be done. So no they’re not safe at all.

People saying it's just a 5 minute walk, how long does it take for a kid to be abducted? And those saying it's a campsite it's safe. So paedos never ever go to campsites? What about the time they spent playing alone? if a kidnapper took one of them other kids wouldn't necessarily know or believe that wasn't a parent.
Perhaps am paranoid but after seeing the news these last 2-3 days of the poor 6/7 year old abducted and sexually assaulted within mins (note, pple called police almost immediately, girl was reunited with family I think in 30 mins yet in that time she had been sexually assaulted and it's taken almost three days to find the suspect), I don't know about safe places especially when there are several others around

Well only yesterday a six year old girl, just turning seven was playing in a park with her brother, police thought she was seven was abducted in a park and took down a path and sexually assaulted by a 23 yr old in a short space of time before running back to her parents. Parents not watching her. The guy had been lurking round the park for hours looking for an opportunity.

Each to own i guess but no bloody way would i have let my two out my sight at that age to walk five minutes to a soft play area. Wow they had walkie talkies, really, that's alright then.. NOT.

Escort them there and back and ensure its fully supervised properly maybe, who is on duty that day? but to go on their own.. not a chance.

Maybe i was a very over protective dad? Maybe the OPs other half was pre occupied with something/ someone else? Who knows but its children first for me and i totally get why its playing on the OPs mind.

I guess we all have different attitude to risk don't we??? BUT as a parent its what risks we are prepared to subject our children to isn't it? Its NOT the parent at risk here its the child. If the OP is uncomfortable with the risk decisions made by the father she should say so for sure IMO but judging by some replies here clearly some are equally as deluded as the farther regarding what is safe

I'm really surprised people are saying this is fine!

Ok, so I'd maybe let them walk the 5 mins there if a safe route with no cars etc.. if they wanted the independence. But then I'd agree I'd be there 5 mins after they arrive to check they'd got there safely etc... and then I'd stay while they played. There is no way I'd let such young kids walk off on their own, stay and play, then walk back. How long is that? Over an hour? Anything could happen to them. They would stick out as v vulnerable prey to the wrong types. Two little girls all alone. No parent in site. Arrived with no parent. What if one of them fell? Or there was an incident?

Having worked most of my adult adult life with offenders, I can tell you now that children's ares in holiday parks are exactly the kind of places dodgy people may like to hang out. A peodophile may not plan on abducting or groping your child, but rest assured they will.be present at that soft play. They may be just sitting watching. They maybe taking photos, they may not even be there at the exact same time.your kids are, but they will.visit that area each day. They are everywhere - in parks feeding the ducks (v. common), in play areas, by the school gates. This is not a myth. This is reality.

It is great to let kids have independence, but in little steps at that age.

Holiday parks are EXACTLY the type of places dodgy people hang around looking for unsupervised kids...

People's guards are down 'we're on holiday, holiday parks are safe'!

As are ANY family attraction.

It takes SECONDS for a child to be abused.

Ask any child protection social worker.

This is how kids go missing. There is no way all the visitors to the holiday park were vetted.

There is absolutely no way I would allow my DCs to do this.

Your ex dropped the ball. What he did was lazy and neglectful.

How would the older kid cope if something went wrong?

What if something catastrophic happened?

2 kids (7 and 8) walking 5 minutes. And had walkie talkies.

Come on op. They need to learn these things too.
Its important. Its how they grow.

Yabu

Some pp's are over the top
I grew up in the 80s. I used to play with other kids 5 minutes away from home for hours on end.

I know things might have been a bit to lax in the 80s. But the 00s an 10s and 20 seem rediculous. Kids are getting no responsibility and do not learn how to take care of them selves. No wonder so many youngster suffer from anxiety. They aren't used of having to do anything by themselves
Mummy is always there holding their hands
It's not healthy.

Unless her dd was abducted then it clearly was safe. She returned unharmed.

I completely agree.

It would be interesting to compare the stats on how many children have been abused by a dodgy stranger in a holiday park compared to being abused by a member of their own family in their own home.

they took walkie talkies with them so i am going to ask her about those tomorrow but surely they dont work too far!
DD's friend has some kids ones which have a range of 3km. They work from one end of the village to the other (even at night🙄)

I also think you're being a bit ott. They were 5 mins away. They were together and they could contact your ex.
I think the main issue here is how your DD felt about it, did she tell you as if she'd been scared or was she proud she'd been allowed to go with her half brother? If she felt forced to go then that not ok. If she was happy to go and they had clear limits then e.g. you may not go beyond x, you must stay together etc then it's ok.

It’s not everywhere! It happens very rarely but it does happen. I think when it does happen it’s all over every news outlet and we are all so paranoid but fortunately not a regular occurrence. Children also need a bit of freedom and to be allowed out!

Safe as in no traffic one assumes.

Same. How naive to believe everyone there is safe. I wouldn't let a 7yo do this.

I'd let my 8 and 6 yo go to the play area. They're sensible and quite savvy. I think.
They go to the shop round the corner but then I know they'll be back in 10 mins.
Tricky one. Caravan parks have some dubious characters unfortunately as a PP said, I work in ED in a resort town and we get SO many patients from Haven parks

Depends how sensible they are. My nearly 8 year old and 9 year old are quite sensible. We go to our local town park which is quite big and they ride their bikes round. I can't see then 80% of the time but we have a meeting point and have to stay together. One time they disappeared too long. One had fallen off and the other helped them sorted themselves out then walked their bikes back to the meeting point. Happened another time and the other came to get me from the meeting point and I went to help them.

If there is guidance, and rules and meeting points and sensibility then some freedom is good. My 9 year old will be going to secondary school in 2 years and walking alone so trying to instill a bit of independence now

Well isn't he a lazy fucker? My ds is just about 8 and it would be a def no from me.

Your DD will be at much greater risk from a boyfriend or partner of yours, statistically speaking.

So... because your DD is more likely to get assaulted at home, then don't worry about it happening elsewhere? I can't get my head around the relevance of this comment.

I would not be ok with this at all. The 8 year old is not old enough to be responsible for a 5 year old in a busy public environment, and there is nothing inherently safe about a holiday park.