Does your 9 year old go out to play with friends alone?

[leefy]

My dd is 9 and recently her friends have been asking if she can play out after school. Some of her friends have been allowed to do this for a couple of years, others are just starting now.

She says she does want to go out to play but up until now she's only ever been to the park etc as a family and even then she doesn't wander off too far alone.

Do your 9 year olds go out with friends? Are you happy to let them at that age?

DS is 11 in July and we have just started to let him go out for an unsupervised walk around the village with his friends. He goes to senior school in Sept.

We don't have any friends who live nearby. I wouldn't let mine just roam around the village unsupervised (there's no where to go and no one to visit anyway). But outside in our (very large) garden, yes, or I'd be happy with her playing at the playground for a few minutes while I ran to the shop. I wouldn't leave her unattended for an extended period of time though. I think maybe that comes from the fact that there is really just no reason to do that, no where to go, no one to roam around and see here, so seems kind of odd.

My boy does. He has just turned 10, but started a couple of months ago. We don't live on a main road though. It's like a weird cul de sac (??) and there are loads of kids that play out. I did feel weird about it at first, but after a year of being shut in the house, and him constantly badgering to play video games, I figured it was the best thing for him.