To think about letting my DS - year 4 - walk to school with his friend?

[theITgirl]

School is about 500 yds away and will mean crossing 3 very quiet roads.
friend will walk to our house (I will text his mum to say got this far). Boys will walk to school and I will follow with younger DD about five minutes later, but will not be passing their classroom to check they are in there.

The boys are very keen to do this. Both get cross with their younger siblings for holding them up and making them late.
They are never very late and do not miss registration, just have to leg it across to the other side of the school and don't get the chance to catch their breath and settle down before school starts in earnest.

Both boys are very sensible and generally good about crossing roads etc.

Opinions please from teachers as well as parents.

As long as the roads have good visibility and you are confident about their road sense then I think it's fine. Last year dd1 (yr 6) and dd2 (yr 4) cycled alone to school. I took dd3 to nursery then went past school to check their bikes (and therefore) them had arrived. Now I cycle with dd2 to close to school and she makes her own way up a little lane then crosses the road near school. I check as before. So like I say i think it's fine but don't be surprised if somebody posts on here accusing you of neglect - opinions very much differ!

Thanks
I am a bit nervous about it but that is mostly pfb nerves. DS is very sensible and trustworthy.

Hi
I would say YANBU. I have started letting my ds (8) but in year 3 walk a little of the way home and by year 4 would certainly let him walk to school with a friend.

Thanks for the replies. Will probably start after half-term. I must check up on the school policy regarding no-shows. If I was confident they would call, I would probably have no worries at all.

Oh and there are masses of families walking the same route.

My older two have done this for ages, they are 9 and 8. Since dd2 was 6, but she was a very sensible 6. One of us has to go with 5yo, but I'm sure the school would phone and say if they hadn't arrived.

my 9yo isn't that sensible, unlike her sister, in that she's scatty and vague, forgets her bag, homework, lunch etc, no sense of time or urgency, but even so she can get herself to school and back, and I think it helps in making her think for herself.

In Germany they would think you were a weirdo if your 4 year old DIDN'T walk themselves to school. Children age 3 were walking themselves to nursery at least a mile away in our town

Twas very safe and lovely though. Like Germany in general TBH.

will be fine. My 10 yo DS has been walking to school on his own for well over a year, and now takes his sister (nearly 8) and another friend (also 8) most days.

Lol - I read it that your ds was 4 years old!!! My answer may have been a tad different .

If he's sensible, especially when being distracted by a friend, then yes he should be ok.

Could you follow him for a week or so first? So he knows you're there if needed but also so you can see how he manages crossing the road?

I'm doing this with dd at the moment - although she's in year 6 as we've got a main road to contend with.

StrictlyKatty, my dsis lives in Germany - what a wonderful, free life her kids lead in comparison to mine .

I got the bus across town on my own from the age of 8. Used to take an hour and involved crossing 2 or 3 major roads!
I say do it, if he is happy to and can be trusted to be sensible then there shouldn't be an issue.

Nothing wrong with that at all they'll be fine

tootored you are so right. I saw girls aged 13 rollerblading, wearing wooly jumpers, where the British Army children were dressed like little corner dwellers drinking cider at 13.

The German way of life is much safer and child friendly. I also read the DS was AGED 4 and confirm, children of that age really do walk to school alone in Germany.

OK - It sounds like I am being unreasonable to worry!!!

He will walk to school with his friend after half-term. BUT I cannot imagine walking to school at 4, even I didn't have that much freedom as a child.

I remember doing a little test when I was a child: parent had a clipboard type thing (just pretend really) and tested me and friend for road safety, carefulness around cars, not chatting when you cross road etc. May be a good idea for yours and friend? If they pass your test then yes?

I was just about to say that YABVVVVVU as i thought that your ds was 4 years old not in year 4 doh . In that case yanbu and what others have said.

StrictlyKatty Thought children didn't start school until they were 6yrs old in Germany?

I was walking a 45 minute journey to school on my own from about 8yrs old. My parents obviously thought I was mature enough and I never got into any trouble/problems. Plus all my mates thought I was cool

So what I mean is if you think he's mature enough to walk to school with his friend then go for it.

I know loads of German parents. I own three nurseries and several of the kids are from European families. The German kids are treated like teeny tiny babies (and I'm talking 4 and 5 year olds). Walk to school alone at 4? You must be joking. The German kids I know don't even walk along the pavement alone at 4 - they get carried.

You don't half read some bullshit on these message boards.

One of my Yr3 children last year (I'm a teacher) was walking to/from school with a friend or alone. She was very sensible (and interestingly half-German). No problem.

My DD2 started doing this last year when she in Year Four. School is about 10 minutes walk away with several roads to cross. It was fine. Lots of her class were walking to school alone, and now, in Year Five, almost all of them are. I would have no hesitation in letting him do it if I were you.

Gosh, aren't you rude Bobbysmum. Do you feel better now?

I would initially be nervous allowing him to do it (pre-programmed that way! LOL), but myself used to walk a mile to school & home again at that age, crossing a few mid-sized roads and looked after my younger brother as well - never thought anything of it and was perfectly able!!

Why not start of letting them walk home alone (if the school will let them out on their own).

Yes he should definitely be going out and about by himself a bit at 8

bobbysmum, presumably the German children you know are not German children in Germany. How they get treated here, with immigrant parents who may well feel less secure in another country, is not proof of how they would be treated in Germany.