Opinion- children going to park alone

[Stresshead84x]

We have a park that's a 2 minute walk away. There is one very busy road with traffic lights directly outside my house and then there's no other roads- the walk is down a well populated path and directly into the park which is always filled with local mums/school kids.

My middle son is 8 and on a wednesday I have him home for 2 hours while I work from home as he needs dropped off to a hobby after this, this works well, he often plays outside with friends where I can work at the window and keep an eye or he plays some games.

He's made friends with two little boys the same age who are allowed to go to the park together and he's now badgering me to let him go. I think he's still too young- I started to let my oldest go somewhere between 9 1/2 and 10 with friends but I would walk her over the big road and meet her on the way back- other than that I don't worry- she's sensible and it's not far. My son wants me to do the same with him, walk him over and then take my phone so he can call on the way back and meet him.

Logically I know it's safe enough but I just don't think he's quite old enough yet- aibu?

Hi I wouldn't let him go , he is young and also there are all sorts of people in parks.

It would be a no from me, especially as we are so close to winter. I'd revisit in the spring.

I only let my Y5 / 9yo (10yo in Jan) go to the park across the road with her older brother and they aren't allowed to take phones** - it's about 90 seconds away but across one zebra crossing. We started this in the Easter holidays.

** older child is 11 soon to be 12 and only he has a phone

My 9 year old has started going alone. With my older sons it was around the same age. There’s more safety in numbers obviously so if your 8 year old is with friends I wouldn’t worry overly but much depend on the type of child you have . My 12 year old hates being out without an adult at the park so I always go with her.

Thanks- my oldest I don't worry at all and my youngest is also very sensible, my middle one is the trickier one although I would trust him not to go anywhere else.

Lots of children that age, including mine, in my area go to the park. We live on a very safe estate though and park is central to all of the other parents houses. I would say depends on area and who else is around

Is there a zebra crossing?
I would try a simplified version of his suggestion in the spring when the days start getting longer again because soon it’s going to be too dark too early imo and he’s going to be annoyed about not being able to go out for a few months after being granted the freedom.
I would start off with sending him with a watch and telling him that you’ll pick him up in x minutes (say 30 at first) and work up to him walking to and from home over the summer.

You know what your area is like so it’s hard to judge. There’s a local park here with lots of weed smoking by teens after school and I wouldn’t want an 8 year old going there.

There's traffic lights but I wouldn't let him cross that himself yet, it's a really busy road so definitely would be taking him over and meeting him again. Once across this road there's no roads it's all pathway- it's like a walking path through houses and it's always busy with families etc, and the park is always busy with local families- they always meet friends there- I'm not overly concerned but I just think maybe 9 rather than 8- also him and his brother are like twins so if I let him now I know they'll both want to go and the little one is only 7 so no way he can.

also it's not really a great area I live in but the park is fine and the walk to it is fine so that doesn't worry me.

Personally I don’t let my 8 year old out of my sight. You’ll get lots of opinions on here. Your gut is telling you he’s too young, listen to it.

You parent him, he doesn’t tell you how to parent.

Yup and it only takes one mistake to make u regret it ur whole life . My son is 9 and I wouldn't let him go , it's too scary nowadays

Definitely a "no" here but I saw and heard of some pretty awful stuff happening in parks when I was younger.

Every missing child case ! It's made me really conscious

See we go to the park very regular I know there will be lots of mums and kids about, most of them we know- objectively I think he'd be completely fine but I think in my head I just think 8's too young.

I try to go by my mum, she was strict for a 90's parent, which is still laid back for today and I think I'd have been allowed at 9 but probably not before so it's probably that that's in my head.

Yes not just abduction but extremely inappropriate behaviour from older children and drugs and all sorts.

Yes not just abduction but extremely inappropriate behaviour from older children and drugs and all sorts.

if it's a horrible area. No. Nice area: maybe, child dependent. You've obvs got an older so do what you feel is right...

There will be lots of mom's but no one is going to be watching your kid u have to do that yourself

I think with my older one by the time she was asking I was ready to let her, she's just very very sensible and she never pushed for anything too early.

No way. We live in a very nice area where there were three children who were allowed out from about 7. No problems from other adults or teens but I saw several cars have to do emergency stops as they ran out into the road chasing each other and one then broke his arm falling out of a tree. No sense of self preservation at that age.

No I know that- I mean I'm not concerned about teenagers and drugs as previous posters have mentioned, the park is full of mums and kids- we go to the park 2/3 times a week - maybe later at night but there's no teenagers that hang out there at this time.

@Stresshead84x

Interesting, it's hard sometimes to pull away from what we experienced isn't it.

Where I live now is a totally different area, and my two dc and very different from each other and me.
Our current park is extremely close as well but I'd never let dd go alone and she's a little older!
People watching, which they do notice so much.
I remember on holiday once over looking a square, you see everything and it really struck me how vulnerable some people can be eg drunk woman alone or small child wandering off or child alone.
No other mum is responsible for your son or watching him.

That's something op re teens.

That's something op re teens.

The culture in the UK is to not allow this, but personally I probably would, in the park you describe and under the circumstances you describe. You know your DS best though.

We started letting our kid go at 9, but we can see the park from our house.