Would you allow a 6 year old to go out alone?

[tonari]

Almost 7.

To walk around the block with (very) small placid dog. Takes less than 5 mins.

Small, quiet village.

NO, especially not with a dog putting them at even more risk. There is a convicted paedophile doors away from us that we only know about because we knew a family member of theirs. I also grew up next door to a young girl who went missing in her teens who has never been found. This makes me very cautious and I would not put a 6 year old in danger by allowing them to walk on their own.

Of course not fucks sake

Is this a joke?

Absolutely not. i'm 44, and i wasn't allowed to walk the dog alone until i was 10.. purely because a child is not strong enough to withstand the strength of a dog should they choose to pull/run after something.

You'll end up with a lost dog and an injured child, or both.

Definitely not, no. My children wouldn’t have been out on their own at 6 without a dog, with a dog it’s even worse.

A definite no!

So does that meann that teenagers shouldn't be allowed out either because one went missing? Can't see the connection to this post

Because if a teen is vulnerable how much moreso a child???? Goodness me. Despair for humanity.

No

No, its the dog that worries me. I have an 11 year old. Shes been walking to and from school alone from the age of 7. But going out with a dog is a no. Ours is a small breed who could be killed very easily by a large breed. She does not have the strength or skill to protect him. So, no dog walking for her.

Depends on the dog, the route and the child, but possibly, yes.

No, not fair to expect a 6 yr old to deal with poo bags, or responsibility if they run out of poo bags, or what to do if dog slips the lead or gets approached by something he's scared of.

They're not safe to cross roads alone, /especially/ if there's usually no traffic. (It's been tested, even a young teen has less ability to detect and react to traffic than an adult, younger children even more so.)

Even if your loop doesn't have crossings, they're not safe to not randomly decide for some reason you haven't yet thought of but totally makes sense in a 6 yr old's head to cross a road.

They need to be supervised by an adult at that age. They can't be relied on to be sensible. They tend to be concentrating on what's going on in their head not their environment. And they're much less visible to traffic than an older child or adult.

I'm in Scotland too and my DC's school won't dismiss children in Primary 1 to Primary 4 unless a parent or carer is there to go collect them. Primary 4 is age 7/8/9.

To the OP, no I wouldn't. I have a sensible 6 almost 7 year old and I wouldn't feel comfortable, but I live in a busy area and have never lived in a quiet village so my fears may be different from yours.

Is this a joke?

I was the most lad back mum in my group of friends but that is absolutely wrong. Even if you lived in the nicest, quietist area in the uk, No.

@user1460471313 I am talking about playing out in the street unsupervised which lots of people seem to allow there very young children to do.

Yes, I know.

I don’t consider this a to be normal at all

Clearly it is normal. You played outside in the street by yourself in the street when you were a child. Why do you think modern children shouldn't be doing this?

It might be but it’s wrong. My dh was left outside to play at a young age and ran across the street when he saw the ice cream van.
He was hit by a van and nearly died.
Please stop with the lazy parenting.

Yeah , makes perfect sense an 8 year old walking a bunch of 3.5 year olds to school 🙄..
I’d relate that now to someone who drink drives , just lucky if nothing ever happens ! !

Im sorry to say that the posts being so very persuasive that we should all be letting our 6 year olds out and about on theit own are givng me the heebies

When I was 6 I was playing out all day with my friends. Only came home for food or drinks! It’s a sad world we live in now.

But we aren't even talking about with friends, are we?

Did you read the op?

My best friend saw me and rushed across the road and hit by a car and had a broken leg. She was 16 and on her way home from work.

If I saw a 6 year old.walking a dog alone, I would think something was very wrong

To all those saying this is fine where do you draw the line? 5? 4? 3?

I call bs

No!!

I'm in my 70s and I wasn't!

Lots of different factors to take into account