Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Do you let your 7-8 year old out to play?

49 replies

Blossomhill · 03/11/2005 20:25

Personally I wouldn't let ds (8 in Jan) out to play yet as I feel he is too young to deal with being unsupervised.

I know a lot of people that do let their 7/8 year olds out and some even younger.

I would be very interested to hear people's opnions on this!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

codKEMP · 03/11/2005 21:18

yes our raod has a "Pink" paved bit so is not a thorough fare

roisin · 03/11/2005 21:20

DS1 was allowed to come home from school by himself from yr3 ... but 15 months on he is still refusing/declining to do so

Obviously I don't want to pressurize him into it if he's not comfortable, but I would like to gently encourage him!

JanH · 03/11/2005 21:20

He is one of a kind, your boy, roisin

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Families General parenting

magnolia1 · 04/11/2005 09:47

Jade is 10 and is allowed down the park (1 minute walk from our back garden) the twins are 6 and allowed out the front but onlu between the 3 houses either side of ours. They only go out either together or with their elder sister to roller skate or scoot

Draw the line at Katie though, she is 2

skinnycow · 04/11/2005 09:48

not "out" as in on the streets and parks unsupervised no!

foxinsocks · 04/11/2005 09:57

mine are allowed out on the street with their friends (but we live in a cul de sac). They are not allowed round the end of the street (towards the main road) and they are only allowed on the pavement. If the older kids (secondary school kids) are out playing, then they can join in (playing football in the road) but only if I know about it so I can watch for cars. I also leave my front door open when they are out so I can listen out for any problems (and generally, the other mums who have children out playing do the same thing).

It's a street of typical London workman's terraced houses so it's not massive and I wouldn't let them play out if we were on a main road.

frogs · 04/11/2005 10:03

roisin, are you trying to pip me in the negligent mothering stakes?

Dd1 has been allowed to walk to and from school, church and library by herself, and go to youth club with her friend since they were 9. Most of her classmate's parents think that dd1 friend's mum and I are being irresponsible, but I can live with that. Personally I think the children who will be at risk at secondary level are the one's who've never been out by themselves, and have never had to develop their own judgement.

Having said that, they don't play out as such, since we're on a busyish road, and the estate behind is rough, so they have no business to be just messing about there IMO.

When we go to my parents who live in the depths of Devon all the children including my 4yo nephew disappear out into the fields and woods after breakfast and don't come back till their stomachs tell them it's lunchtime. The younger ones (6 and 4) are supposed to stay within calling distance, but we don't really supervise them. We tend to assume they will have the good sense not to fall out of a really high tree or drown themselves in a horse trough.

rummum · 04/11/2005 12:52

My children started playing outside in our cul-de-sac last year aged 6 and 8, I was like a meer cat up at the bedroom window or looking over the fence! This year they could go down to the green and play with their friends, which is about 1 minutes walk away. I think it depends on the area you live. They have a lot of school friends that live nearby so there is always someone to play with, and of course they have their mobile phones so we could always stay in touch.

Tinker · 04/11/2005 12:58

My 8 year old has been playing out on street since she was about 5. Each year allowed to venture a little further. She's sllowed to go to the shops as well now, very handy.

Fimbo · 04/11/2005 13:01

No, my dd plays with ds/has friends round to play in the garden and that is it. Having said that although we live in a village, none of her friends live nearby as we live in the old part of the village, her "friends" would be upwards of 70!! Most of her friends live on a newer estate, so I don't know what I would do if we lived there as most of them wander about, especially if they have older siblings to watch out for them.

myalias · 04/11/2005 13:09

My ds has been playing out the front since the age of 4.5 he used to play with a a couple of older girls that live across the road. We live in a cul-de-sac that is on the edge of a park his friends come and knock for him and you can see them playing from my front window. He is now 9 yrs old and he is very confident, he goes to the local supermarket and gets milk and bread and he gets to spend the change!!! He is very streetwise for his age compared to some of his friends who are still not allowed to play outside. He loves being able to go out and kick his ball at the park and ride his bike.

myalias · 04/11/2005 13:15

I forgot to mention he always take his mobile phone and he rings me if he is going to knock for one of his friends. I also have a list of his friends parents phone numbers.

fimac1 · 04/11/2005 13:19

Children are not able to judge the speed of a car until (10?) proven fact, hence ds (7) is not allowed out unless supervised - also he seems to have less road sense than dd? This seems to be quite common when asking other Mums

fimac1 · 04/11/2005 13:23

Here:

Children are short. This makes it difficult for them to see motorists and for motorists to see them -- especially around obstructions like parked or moving cars, buses and bushes.

Children have underdeveloped peripheral vision - approximately one-third narrower than an adult?s, so a child won?t see a motorist approaching from the right or left as soon as an adult will.

Parents and motorists must realize that children are not small adults. Until children are at least 10 or 11 years old, they don?t have the skills to handle traffic.

From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

charliecat · 04/11/2005 13:26

Thats what I read then! Its also blatantly obvious when you see kids playing in the orad that they dont understand that if a car comes speeding round the corner its might just kill them. You dont tend to see adults doing the same, lingering in the middle of the road.

jollymum · 04/11/2005 13:26

No way would mine be allowed out into fields etc..I don't care how safe you think it is. There are bad people around, look at what happened to that little girl Sarah. Her mum was minutes away, the other kids took a different route and there, no more Sarah. Too risky IMHO. Mine are older and I still hate them being out. Different dangers as they reach near teens and teens. Both DS have been threatened and DS1 has been nutted, punched and threatened with a knife. This was in the middle of shops, outside McDonalds dressed in his school uniform under a security camera.

charliecat · 04/11/2005 13:26

the orad? that would be road!

fimac1 · 04/11/2005 13:36

Also interesting is this information targets Boys as being particularly at risk?:

What parents need to know: the bottom line

Parents often think their children are able to handle traffic safely by themselves before they actually are ready.

Children don't have the skills to handle these risky situations until at least age ten.

Boys are much more likely than girls to be injured or killed in traffic.

Bicycles are vehicles. Children should not ride bikes in the road umtil they fully understand traffic rules and show they can follow them.

Young children are NOT small adults!

They often act before thinking and may not do what parents or drivers expect.

They assume that if they see the driver, the driver sees them.

They can't judge speed and they think cars can stop instantly.

They are shorter than adults and can't see over cars, bushes, and other objects.

Ulysees · 04/11/2005 13:38

no, our road is short but nutters speed up it. He's happy in our back garden though playing with ds2. Probably won't let them out of my sight until they're 21

bigdonna · 06/11/2005 13:57

no i would not let my 8yr old son out on his own.

Original poster

Blossomhill · 06/11/2005 19:52

I just don't think my son is old enough to be responsible for himself yet

OP posts:

paolosgirl · 06/11/2005 20:17

We live in a small cul-de-sac, so all the kids play safely unsupervised outside and have done for a few years. DS (who's nearly 8) is not allowed out of the cul-de-sac on his own, not only because of the danger to himself, but because I want to know what he's up to at all times.

nightowl · 07/11/2005 04:07

ds has been allowed out of the garden this year for the first time (he is 8). he is allowed two houses up and two houses down, and not to play in the road. this is only in the summer and when it is light, this is also only when his slightly older friends are out, he is not allowed out to mooch around on his own. we live towards the end of a cul-de-sac and in the summer we are all outside anyway, front doors wide open etc etc. i can see where he is at all times. he's not allowed out now the dark nights are here.

Kittypickle · 07/11/2005 07:33

My children are going to lose out badly with this one. We've got a weird set up where we have no direct access to the road and have to go over two neighbours drives. It would be a great set up if either of our neighbours had children but they don't. Also the road outside gets pretty busy. So I think my nearly 7 year old is stuck in the garden for the forseeable future. I wouldn't trust her for ages anyway as she had dyspraxia and I think it will be ages before she could play out unsupervised.

Flip

1 2

Swipe left for the next trending thread