10 year old using the tube alone?!!

[LIKley]

DD is in Y6, her school has kids from all over London and we are used to her friends not being super close geographically.
DD’s best friend is one of the youngest in their year, so only 10 right now.

Planning a sleepover for the girls as they won’t be at the same school next year, I asked the girls parents how she will be getting to ours and was asked if I could meet her at my nearest tube station, I assumed a parent would be meeting me there with her but no they intend to let their 10 year old get the tube alone + 2 line changes one of them either at Victoria or Green Park which if you know London are hardly going to be quiet and easy to navigate at 10.

Parent insists it’s fine and the girl knows the stations well and has been using one of them alone to get to a hobby all of Y6!!

Now I know know, most kids will be getting the tube to school alone in just a couple of months but the thought of asking a 10 year old to navigate a busy station like Victoria on her own makes me feel ill!

AIBU to say to the parents that I’ll just pick her up from there house? Equally AIBU to think it’s bloody absurd to have a 10 year old make this journey?

Want to say it's easier to change nowadays with phone apps. I remember not having phones, and needing to know how to read the tube map to plan changes.

So the change at Green Park or Victoria is presumably the one she's used to from her activity. If the only thing she hasn't done is the switch from southbound Victoria to Southbound Northern line at Stockwell there really is nothing to get worried about as that is a doddle and half the passengers on the train will be doing it at that point.

I grew up in zone 2 and was using public transport to get around at that age. My parents would practice the journeys with me to start with, but once I was confident I was certainly doing it alone.

How are children meant to develop confidence and essential life skills if we never let them learn and do things for themselves? Wrapping children in cotton wool isn't actually a kindness in the long run.

Central London stations are always staffed because otherwise they would be clogged with lost tourists. And changing tube lines at somewhere like Victoria does not involve going onto the main station concourse, you get off one tube line and follow the signs to the one you need. As long as she knows the direction of travel, and can read a simple tube map and find the station she needs on it it will be fine.

Dd was getting the tube (with changes) to and from school from the beginning of year 6. I went with her the first week till she got used to it, then the following week she did it in her own. So were many of her classmates

I don’t think it is that unusual in London. With the amount of CCTV and people around I felt quite comfortable. It’s outside of London when you get roads where there are no other pedestrians around and no CCTV I wouldn’t let her go alone.

Maybe it's worth considering your approach to teaching your DD life skills? This is something she will need to learn.

YABU to project your anxieties on to someone else's perfectly capable and confident child. If you don't want your child using the Tube, that's fine, but it's not your place to decide whether other people's children should.

I'm glad that worked for you. My son at 10 is still a young child and does not need to travel anywhere alone. When he does need to we will guide and teach him to do so. For example secondary school. In this situation I agree with the OP and would not feel comfortable

I'm sure they do, but the OP doesn't hence the post.

You are right, he hasn't had any practice at travelling independently using busy public transport as he is still a little boy. When the time comes and he is mature enough we will teach him

From year 7 kids from all over London get the tube from god knows where, then get on the big train for an hour to Southend, then walk for 20 minutes to get to our grammar schools. I think you are underestimating most 10&11 year olds.

I don't live in London, when I was using the tube there last week I didn't see a single police officer. The staff were up top and not below. Going to school is a necessity and children usually travel together. This isn't the same. Each to their own but I wouldn't do it at that age even if I lived in London

I actually think it’s better to change st busy stations. They will have staff and safety in numbers. It’s their parents decision, not yours. Don’t add to the horrific pollution in London by driving

I agree that busier stations are much safer than quieter stations. Both these stations are staffed.

10 is not a little boy.

How about when they're 11 then? Or 12? And what has a woman coughing got to do with anything FFS???

The way some posters are describing using the tube during busy times makes it sound like the Wild West. It really is not.

But with the greatest of respect OP, it isn't your child. And her parents clearly are comfortable with it. Otherwise they wouldn't allow it.

This. Kids figure this kind of thing out at different stages. Just because yours isn't there yet, there's no need to pathologise someone else's child who's further along.

If they say it’s fine, then it’s fine. Maybe their child is simply more mature and capable than yours and so can manage this type of thing more easily. It’s not up to you to decide what their child is able to do.

Wondering what people think might go wrong-and whether they live in London?

Not really comparable but - I haven’t been to London and used the Tubes in over 10 years but went alone recently and it was so straight forward, I struggle with maps and I didn’t get lost or get on the wrong train or anything - I am sure this girl with experience of using the Tube regularly and independently will be fine.

@CurlewKate according to posters she will be pushed off the platform onto the rails, be assailed by drunk or drugged people, or sexually assaulted. They make the Tube during busy times sound like the Wild West.

I'm wondering this too. Of all the places in London for a 10 year old to be on their own, I would say a busy tube / tube station with lots of people and staff around is actually probably one of the safest?!

which if you know London are hardly going to be quiet and easy to navigate at 10.

Surely it's better that it's not quiet??? And her parents have said she's used to the tube and doing these journeys so it IS easy for her to navigate???

You seem to be going solely off the fact that you wouldn't be happy with your DC doing it which is completely unreasonable.

Think its fine, as someone who used the tube to go to school, visit friends and my own DC then went to school the same way. I'm pretty sure my sister and I were 8 & 10 when we were travelling alone from either North or East to South Ken and this is without mobiles.

I think tube is safer than buses and despite the stereotype being that London is horrible and dangerous I find most people I have to encounter on the tube pretty decent. She's a London kid with what 12 weeks before hundreds of London kids are doing the same. Aren't Japanese children doing this sort of thing at 4?!