Do you let your 8 yr old go out alone

[hellish]

I mean a 10 min walk to the park with a friend?

Crikey, there is no way I would let my 8.5 year old out by himself. Not to walk to school or to the shop or park 5 minutes away. Too many risks - roads, cars, strangers etc. I didn't think of myself as overprotective at all. We live in London, not that that makes a difference. I always thought secondary school or possibly summer of year 6 was the earliest they could go unsupervised??

I do let him cycle around our local park by himself though where he is out of sight for maybe a minute. It's only just starting to occur to me that I don't have to have him in sight every minute. He's a feisty and independent boy but there are just too many dangers so why risk it? There are small for such a short time.

Yes I would. Mine was walking to school with a friend from that age, 20 min walk.