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!

My child is 7 soon, he would be in serious trouble if he left the house for a wander without telling anyone.

My sensible DD when she was 10 to the corner shop and to a local park with friends or to walk to the next street to a friends house. I think by the end of yr 5 she was walking home from school alone. Now my DS who is 8, I doubt he will be ready by 10, he’s very impulsive and a bit too random with his behaviour!! Very child dependent.

I think 7 is too young but both mine started out and about in careful ways from.about 9. There is a big difference between a 7 year old and a 9 year old though - think about it, 2 years is almost a third of his life.

I think there are ways to encourage and teach independence this young though. It will depend on your lifestyle and activities but for example, in our case, we did things like - at the gym letting them go out of the chamge room before us to find a seat in the cafe and buy a drink. Or letting them roam in the library while we sat at a table. Or sending them into the small local shop while we waited outside with the dog. At our two favourite playgrounds you park a bit away from the actual playground so the kids would be allowed to run ahead. Etc etc.

My brother and I were allowed to play out alone around the age of 8/9, roaming all over the place - by 11 I was walking to the high street and catching the bus to school alone.

I think it's around age 7 when children start to grow up a lot, which could explain his sudden need to go around the corner. They can think ahead, use logical thinking too. Of course, depends on each child and their personalities and development.

It's always a worry starting to let them find their feet, but a normal part of parenting. I also think that tbh it is natural to worry about children no matter their age, just be different sets of worries as the years go on. I think your parents not letting you do much until you went to uni is a little unhealthy for your own confidence and growing up... and may just have passed on their worrying ways to you. I mean that kindly.

My 10 year old walks to the shop, the park and to and from school by herself. She has a brick phone to keep in contact. I think 9 or 10 is a good age to give them a bit of independence ahead of the move to secondary school - however I wouldn’t be happy if my DD left the house without telling me where she was going.

A lot of variables. How far away from the home, what type of environment e.g. busy roads or quiet fields.

Generally I would say short walks in neighbourhood maybe around 10, but longer walks away from home around 12 with a mobile phone. In both cases sharing plans in advance.

I don't think that is fairly typical of Scotland, it doesn't happen where I live in Edinburgh. I have friends in the Central belt and Glasgow who wouldn't let their 8/9 year olds play outside themselves.

7 is too young. 9 absolute minimum and more usual year 6 (10 or 11) around here.

But you could be kidnapped at any age. It's very rare, unless there's some particular reason your child is in danger. More dangerous are cars and accidents, which do get less dangerous as children mature.

I think it depends on the area, where they're going, what they're like, who else you know in the vicinity, etc.

Walking to a corner shop, or a friend or relative's house that they've been to with you a billion times before, in a safe area and where there are no roads to cross, 7 is probably fine for a sensible kid, maybe younger if it's just a few doors down. You could get him a watch phone with a tracker or something, but it won't really make him safer when he's young and just going to places he knows well. It will give you something to check but if you're prone to anxiety (a bit unclear from your posts) it may well make you more anxious over all, increasing your sense that it's dangerous to let him out of the house without you and you need to check.

To keep him safe you need to help him develop the skills he needs to navigate the world alone. And that's normally done by taking him places and explaining what's going on. Letting him watch interactions. Talking about how you decide what to do in different situations and when things go wrong. Letting him do stuff with you near by at first, paying for something at the shop, or returning a library book, say. Then while you wait outside. Then from further away, or while you go into a different shop. Going in a group of friends rather than on his own, especially the first few time he goes somewhere busy is also a good tactic.

I think it's a bit different today than it was 40 years ago when most kids would go to the park from a young age. There's less crime, but roads are busier and people often don't know as many people in their neighbourhoods, and there are fewer kids around. But it's not more dangerous, just a bit harder and probably less fun.

Going off without letting you know is a different issue, but it doesn't sound like you're asking about that, just planning for how to let him spread his wings a bit safely.

I've no experience of Edinburgh but, where I'm from in Glasgow, it would be very unusual not to allow 8/9 year olds out to play.

My 9 year old is allowed to walk to the row of shops at the end of our road. I watch him cross from our front door (its a very quiet residential road) then he just walks along the pavement to buy sweets/run errands. We live in a very safe village,i think its really important kids have some independence.

Oh, I was allowed out (lived in a quiet, small cul-de-sac) to play for hours with 6 other similar age children from around 5-6 years old but all the parents could peek outside and see us out front. I presume this would not have been allowed if cars had been an issue or busy otherwise though.

By the time I was 7/8 was out for quite a few hours exploring the neighbourhood army woods, building dens with same neighbourhood kids, cycling too and we went with my family dog. Always home for 5pm dinner. I remember the age because we moved to Norway aged 8 for a couple years and I missed my friends.

When I came back to the UK, I had a year left of primary school, mum (apart from 1st day) stopped walking me to school, which was about a mile away and never walked me to secondary. I was allowed to go to town aged 10 on my own to the shop for mum. Am the youngest of four, I guess she just didn't worry so much by the time it was my turn!

I’m in Edinburgh, DS was around 9/10 when he was allowed to ‘play out’. But it was for an agreed short period of time, I knew who he was with, and it was on a small housing estate with no major roads etc. Lots of visibility from multiple homes. He started walking to school with friends at 11, by that point he had a phone that I could track, again, not very far, no major roads. It’s hard when you let them go off, the first time I spent the 30 minutes he was out pacing up and down. He was very sensible and mature for his age though, I might have been less comfortable with it if he was a bit scatty.

Forget kidnapping it is crossing a road you need to be worried about.

It does depend on the child and how reliable they are, that you can trust them to only do what you allow. Then the number of roads they need to cross and how dangerous they are.

I started with allowing it when they were about 8-9 (to shop across the road from us) but walked it with them first. It was a pedestrian crossing. No free road crossing. It depends on your area - if the roads are dangerous I would wait till older. A quiet estate might be ok too.

Read a book called stolen focus, it’s so good for reminding of the benefits is children having independence and the incredibly low chance of stranger danger they’re more likely to win the lottery jackpot twice than be snatched etc

While I would also go nuts about this/emphasise calmly and clearly that you don't wander off like this, the fact that your 7 year old felt himself to be independent and safe to go out for a walk is a positive sign of how he views himself and the world.

My concern about my DC being out and about was traffic. It represents the highest risk to their safety.

They are more likely to be struck by lightning than kidnapped by a stranger.

I’m a 70s baby who had pretty unlimited freedom to roam with other children from about 8. All of our ‘near misses’ with danger were traffic related.

Our eldest is in y6, we are letting him do more and more independently as he’ll be travelling 45m across London to school next year, but it’s only really been this year.

My youngest is almost 11, year 6. She has been walking to and from school alone or with a friend since year 5. She will also go alone to a friends house or to meet a friend in the playground alone, all within 5 minutes walk. We live in a village so busy roads not really an issue.

Eldest is 14 and will take the dog for a walk often so alone for up to an hour, sometimes both DC go together

I don’t think it’s about how good and safe your child is . It’s more about them being aware of their surroundings.

When my sister and I were walking home from a bus stop after school a car pulled over and asked my sister to come closer , luckily my mum was on the other side of the road shouting to my sister to get away from the car .

The car sped away so fast it frightened us and everyone around just stopped and looked on .

That scarred me .

We had a lot of freedom as children but we knew when to go back home , no mobiles then .

I didn’t let my sons out like I did . I didn’t keep them in either , but there were limitations in place . It did them no harm .

Scottish City here-Edinburgh/Glasgow. Kids playing out in street or nipping to others houses to play would be around 7. Going to the shops or walking up to the park alone would be more like 8 or 9- but depends on kids/neighbourhood. I really wasn’t thinking about Child trafficking - I was just thinking about Car traffic. If there is a group of kids it would be unusual to not let them out if they were 8 or older. Kids usually walk to school alone (in groups)across roads from about 9

depends where you live? In the small village I live in children start walking to school alone by age 8 . I personally don’t allow my child yet

It’s impossible to give an age. All children are different and they all live in different places!
Are they sensible? Ate they forgetful or unreliable? Are they confident? Would they know what to do if they encountered a problem? What is their road safety like? Are they cautious at zebra crossings (need to be given all cars speeding over them)? Are they likely to get distracted by dogs, their mobile phone, other children / friends when crossing the road? Are they walking alone or with others? How far are they walking? Do they need to cross roads / busy roads. Is it a safe area? Is it a close knit area where people know each other / look out for each other? Is it in a busy city where theft and crime rates are relatively high? Is it a walk in the countryside in the middle of nowhere where they’d be completely alone? Is it in daylight? Is it necessary (to / from school)?
I cannot remember the age my son went to the park 15-20 minutes walk away by himself but he was probably about 9-10. He walked to and from school in Year 6 so aged 10-11. We live in a quiet safe village. He’s 13 now and recently got public transport into our nearest city where he met up with friends.
I agree with others:

• aged 7 is a bit too young
• he needs to be in big trouble for just wandering off outside without telling you
• I’d be more worried about them getting lost, getting run over, leaving their coat in the park, losing their phone, getting their phone stolen etc rather than being kidnapped - it’s always a worry as a parent but so incredibly unlikely!