What age is safe for a kid to go for a walk on their own?

[SchoolZooTrip]

Just that really,
and how do you make sure they're okay? Do you give them a phone? An air tag? A prayer?

But asking for a rather more dramatic reason in that my child went for a wander earlier today because he "wanted to get some sunshine". He's usually so anxious not to be away from us that he doesn't even like going into a different room by himself so my immediate thought was that he'd been kidnapped 🙈 Thankfully, we found him round the corner. But it was the scariest few minutes of my life.
It did get me thinking - he seemed to really enjoy the freedom, quite a sudden and dramatic step but obviously at some point his need for it will become more persistent. At his age we were playing out by ourselves but it was a completely different time. How can I give it to him in this day and age without thinking about child traffickers the whole time ?

I can't ask my parents for help on this one - they still worry silly about us 🤦‍♀️. As a child it really annoyed me that they wanted constant reassurance I was okay, but I get it now!

Totally area dependent in my opinion. I allow my 11 year old to go to our very local park in daylight. We live in an extremely safe town though.

How old is he and what sort of community do you live in?

Depends on the child and the area, surely. One of mine was reliable and sensible enough at 8 or 9, the other was a total fruitloop and I didn’t let him out alone until secondary school. We live in a fairly safe community, but near a main road.

My 12 year old has been walking to the shop or round the block to meet her friends for around a year now, since she started secondary school. Shes really sensible and enjoys the independence. I wouldn’t let my 8 year old do it anytime soon though as she is more reckless than her sister.

ETA: She’s not allowed out in the dark by herself though, and I track her through her iPhone as me and her dad have them as well so we use ‘Find my’.

Our area is safe, but you just never know...

My 10 year old has recently started going to the park with his mates. He's a very sensible boy.

How old is he?

Round here kids play out themselves about 8/9 years old. That’s fairly typical across Scotland but always raises eyebrows on these threads on Mumsnet.

Well, you never know all sorts of things. What age is he?

Ok. So don’t let him out and supervise better at home and give a consequence for absconding.

Depends where, how busy the roads are, how road safe they are.
My DCs were allowed to go to the park that we can see from our front door (but there's a road to cross) from I think 10 and 8, then a couple of years later to the shops in town. It's a small town and quite safe. In between those times to a corner shop but they prefer to go to Sainsbury's Local which is slightly further - I think they find the self service tills more straightforward.

I think he's sensible enough if the world was a safe place but I can't get the thought of kidnapping out of my head

@Yourethebeerthief I live in England and where I am on a very safe housing estate kids do play out at a similar age. No raised eyebrows from me. But, parents know and give permission which is a bit different to going off alone without asking.

Mine were 8 or 9ish.

How old is he?

We live a few minutes away from a small city centre and my DD10 could go out a little bit but not to aimlessly wander. If she said where and why I wouldn’t mind. She’s in Y6 and walks the short distance to and from school by herself.

DS6 absolutely no way whatsoever he’d be allowed out alone.

Depends on the age. Mine went to the play park 5 minutes away when they were 8.
I don’t buy into this thing that times are different to when we were young. It isn’t.

My DS is almost 10 years old but not even nearly ready to be out on his own imo. Another 12 months at very least for him.

You really need to get that idea OUT of your head and think about getting lost, road safety, and theft. Your child is approximately as likely to be kidnapped as to be a conjoined twin.

OP as you have asked for people to share ages however would be helpful to share your child's age as it's kind of relevant to the advice

Mine is 9 but no way near ready for any freedom yet

It is. But OP just asked about ages. Yet to hear what age her child is so I’m waiting for the drip feed that he’s either 3 or 17

@Yourethebeerthief indeed!

How old is he?
My 10 year old goes for a walk by herself, but I’d be pissed off if she left the house without telling us. And the fact your son has done that suggests that maybe he doesn’t have the maturity to be allowed out alone.

9 is normal round here - both for "playing out " and walking to local shop/school etc by themselves.

But it does depends on how busy your area is (roads) and general level of safety.

I get that, it’s scary…but it’s always a balancing act between those fears and the child’s need to be allowed to develop and progress. One of mine is 23 now and for reasons I won’t go into, is a visible target for violent bigots. He commutes into London three days a week and it causes me more anxiety now than letting him out at 9 ever did. I think it’s just one of the perks of motherhood, being shit-scared of something happening to them.

Child and area dependent.
Mine were sensible, area was super safe. 9 but it was more than 20 years ago.
DS caught the public bus home from school aged 10; DD got the tube aged 11.

We're in London where all the kids go to secondary school on their own (often not just in the local area, many travel 1hr+ across the city for selective schools) so they all need to be comfortable getting themselves around on their own by year 7. They've usually started walking to a local primary school and going out alone by age 10, sometimes 9. Our London borough has a high crime rate and they have to be careful of phone snatching, mugging and pickpockets, there's much less concern about being kidnapped.