To think that allowing young children to "play out" is a safeguarding concern?

[LongTimeLurker234]

Was just wondering how people feel about children between the ages of say, 6/7/8/9 "playing out" unsupervised by adults for hours, and without a phone. Going to the local parks, shops etc... Are there any laws about it?

I'm posting this because I'm actually concerned for some children, not just because of this issue alone but this is part of it.

YABU- playing out is normal
YANBU - safeguarding concern

No…

My 10 and 8 year regularly go to the park…and it’s not in view of me

It depends where it is and the children involved.
I'm much more concerned about the safeguarding risks of the internet and find it odd how many people are worried about their children playing at a park or on some grass near their house when so many children have mobile phones, tablets, online communication via games consoles etc.

There are certainly laws about neglect, and if you feel there is a risk to those children that they are being neglected you should report it of course.

In itself play out isn't neglectful, children playing with friends in safe places with their parents approval and a time to be home by. That's all normal. I played out from age 8-9 very happily.

But you obviously are worried, so perhaps it's more than just playing outside in this case.

Call childline and talk to them op. You can do it anonymously but you could share all the concerns and get proper advice.

Is what you’re describing not exactly what we all did as children? Is it also not exactly what people complain that children don’t do anymore because they are always indoors looking at screens? It’s absolutely fine, provided that the child is mature enough, with others that can be trusted and is in an area that is generally safe. It’s the parent’s own judgement to make and there is no right or wrong age imo.

“Laws” curtailing children’s freedom to play? What a strange mindset. Of course it’s fine and normal, it’s up to the parents if they are happy with it.

I don’t think a 9 year old playing with friends is really a legal concern if I’m honest. My kids at that age were welcome to take their bikes to the park or shops or friends’ homes.

You say that apparently it’s not your only concern, so you’re not going to get the right answers from this thread. If you have a host of concerns for a particular child/family then of course playing out for long periods unsupervised might fit into that, but on the information you’ve given, yes it is normal for kids to play outside.

I mean at least when my kids are out they’re only in danger from the bad people who live in our direct area. Online they are vulnerable to world wide weirdos.

If you have concerns then report them. You don't need to justify it or rationalise it. You know the wider context (and no, you don't need to share that) and there is something about it that is giving you reason to doubt a child's safety so report it.

Massively depends where you live and your dc individually. I never let dd1 go to the park alone but her twin sisters started 30 minutes in the park at 10 years old - pathways lead to park so very safe and area is lovely. Bigger main park would have been a no but now I let all 3 dc go to that one with the skate park (dtds are 12 and dd1 15).

they play out in our cul de sac a lot and I can see them from my windows.

Yep! So many parents don’t know as much as they think they do about their kids online activities.

I wouldn’t worry about “the law” op. It’s irrelevant for you really. Share your concerns and the appropriate people can decide if intervention is required. That intervention wouldn’t be based on any law about children playing out anyway but on an assessment of the risks and needs.

There isn't a street where I live. There is only a single track road, and my kids weren't allowed to play on it, but walking on the grass beside it was fine. They weren't allowed near the well, or on the shore by themselves, but otherwise they were free to run around anywhere that there was no livestock. I was just grateful they weren't attached to their devices!

You can call it a safeguarding risk if you like, but I think they gained something really special. There are all sorts of exciting worlds that children can create for themselves, and things for them to discover if they have the freedom. Obviously I wouldn't give them quite the same freedom in the middle of Glasgow, but neither would I think that playing outside was in itself a huge risk. That's a bit like making them eat with a spoon because playing with machetes is dangerous.

A child playing out is not a cause for concern in itself but with added context, it could be. For example, child is very young, is completely unsupervised, is getting into bother, is near busy roads, doesn't know where/how to seek help, is out entirely alone without even other children, etc. It's all about the wider picture.

My DC play out but it's a quiet area, they have boundaries of where they can/can't go, I check on them periodically either by phone or visually if they're in view, they know where to go and what to do if they need urgent help (not just coming home, they know they can run to their/my friends' houses if that's closer), they don't go out completely alone and go in pairs or small groups with other kids, they have road sense and so on.

A few years ago I came home and my husband told me that 3 little girls had knocked on the door and asked if they could come in and stroke our cat. He'd said no, sorry, he was busy. A few minutes later he pointed them out and I went out to speak to them. They took me to their home, five doors up, and The mum came to the door and I explained what had happened. She was apologetic that they had bothered us, but seemed unaware of the danger the children could be in. She said "I've told them once not to knock on people's doors" What was worse, the children were 5,6, and 7, and the middle one wasn't even her child, she was looking after her for the day.
Children can't judge the speed of oncoming traffic, before the age of ten. In my opinion they shouldn't be playing out at a young age.

There is a court case in the news right now where a man is being prosecuted for murdering a seven year old who was “playing out” (Nikki Allan). YANBU to insist your kids need adult supervision until secondary school age.

It is completely normal for children of that age to play out unsupervised where I live.

Its a good, healthy and normal part of childhood.

Its completely unusual for children of that age to have a phone.

My own children began playing out at about age 6 with limits on their geographical limits and how long they could be out without checking in.

This then evolves as they get older with my now 10 year old allowed to go swimming, to the shops, cinema etc with her friends. She does now have a phone.

"Hours and hours" at age 6 is different to older kids. If you think these children are being neglected then give NSPCC or social services a call.

Are there any laws about it?

There are no laws about playing out.

There are laws about neglect.

When I was six I walked to school alone (this was the 1970s) and I remember a group of children gathered around a man with kittens, saying that he had more kittens at home and who wanted to come and see them? I remember thinking "oh, this is like that man they showed us in that video about not talking to strangers at school" and keeping a wide berth! Don't think I even mentioned it to my mum though.

Depends a lot on the area - my experience was in a fairly shitty part of Basildon, and I would guess I was only walking alone to school as my mum was a working single mother and did not have any positive models of parenting. But a nice quiet place where everyone knows one another? Might be different.
And depends on whether they are in a group with older children, for instance.

Nikki Allen was killed in 1992. She had been at her grandparents flat and was lured away by a resident of the same block, he was known to her as he was the boyfriend of her babysitter. She wasn't "playing out" but don't let facts cloud your hysteria.

YABU. Playing outside with other children is necessary for a child's development. It teaches them so much.

Suddenly summer - I think part of the problem now is that people don't get to know their neighbours. They only lived 5 doors away, yet you didn't know these children. Years ago that just wouldn't be the case.

It's a decision for private individuals to make. Please stop with this authoritarian BS, it won't end well.

Where I live, children start walk to/from school by themselves in Year Four (age 8-9) at the encouragement of the school and by the time they go to middle school in Year 5 (age 9-10) almost all of them are travelling there by themselves, some of them by bus and many walking.

People moan kids should be out, not stuck in the house on a computer. Yet people are moaning at kids playing out. I'm an 80s kid and we was out morning till night without going home. Leave the kids alone and let them play. They aren't doing anything wrong!!

Why are people overlooking Ops mention of her having wider concerns. I agree that playing out is important and children gradually work towards having more independence and less supervision. However very clearly there are times when this is appropriate and times when it isn’t.

You can agree with free play whilst also recognising that some children are neglected and unsupervised inappropriately. Being allowed developmentally appropriate freedoms and neglect are 2 very different things. I don’t know which is the case for the children op is talking about. No one here does. It’s best she calls social care or childline where she can share the whole context of her concern and get advice from people with safeguarding experience.