How old do you allow your kids roam around the neighborhood?

[deafgal]

my husband thinks 6 or 7 should be allow to play with their neighborhood friends and even go over their house alone. I always felt that's too young.

 

[Vonnie18]

My boys are 6 (7 in two weeks) and 8 and I allow them to play about the neighbour hood, go to park (which is just along from our house and no roads to cross). They are also allowed to go and play at their friends houses. They both have mobiles though so they always take them with them x

 

[smelly07]

I let my daughter out to play when she was 6, she has her boundaries and is always in sight if i look at my windows, i am widening her boundaries a little when she turns 7.

I had a great childhood free to play out from about 4 years old.
I think its sad that parents are worried to let their children play outside it isnt any more dangerous now as it was when i was a child. x

 

[deafgal]

i live in a busy street (cars all day long) I just don't feel safe him roaming around without supervision.

 

[RachA]

I would allow mine to play at their friends houses from any age really but until they were at senior school I wouldn't allow them to walk there on their own-unless they lived on our road and I could see them walking to the house.
We have a nice big garden so I would expect them to play in that rather than in the street or on the pavements.

 

[elsielouise]

I don't think I will ever let him roam. We live in a rural area and have no immediate neighbours. His friends are all over a mile away and mostl further than that. He won't be allowed to play on the streets at all though and I would expect to take him to skate parks/swimming etc

We also have a lot of outside space ( acres) so he will be encouraged to have friends come here to play.

I think once he is attending secondary school and travelling there unsupervised we will see if his level of maturity suggests he could cope with independent travel to friends but tbh I don't think the world around is safe enough for under tens to be out alone.

Just my opinion.

 

[morri]

I was let out to go out(with saying where I went) at age 6- this is also school age where kids go to school on their own too.

 

[JASMAK]

My son is almost 9 and he is not allowed to 'roam' or go to the park (two roads down) himself, but with permission he can walk up the road to his friends, and he is allowed to play in the front (street) with his bike so long as he is where I can see him. Next year I was thinking, with a friend, he can walk on his own to school (no parents). But we will be going anyways, so we will still keep a bit of an eye on him as we have our younger daughter who has autism and she won't be doing much on her own.

 

[seoj]

I feel age, yes, is a factor... but also each child can vary. Some are just more responsible than others. I probably wouldn't let my child go too far from our house or neighborhood if she didn't have a cell phone-- but she's also 14. When she was 9-10, we would let her play outside close to home- where we could keep an eye on her... but really, most kids would come over to our house to play as their parents didn't mind. And we were a bit more strict than most, so that worked out well for us lol. We were that house all the kids would stay over at and come play... and still are really. She's just now met more friends- being in high school- that invite her over etc... but we grew more comfy with it as she got older cause she's always super honest with us and we ask questions and meet the parents if she's staying over etc... sometimes though, she'd have a bad time there (for whatever reason)- and didn't want to go back or we felt it better she didn't... so it was a case by case basis.

Just do what YOU are comfy with as a parent and what makes sense logically. I remember running around all over my neighborhood as a big kid-- but my parents were always home and we'd have to check in from time to time and they always knew who we were with and where we were.

 

[Amarna]

There's a lot of factors I think. The maturity of the kid, comfort level of the parents, quality of the neighborhood, etc. I don't think I'll feel comfortable letting my daughter play around the neighborhood until she's 8/9 at least. I know people who let their 3/4 year olds roam about and that's far too young to me. At this age my daughter plays in the yard alone at times where I can look out the window and see her or at our immediate neighbor's place with a little boy she's friends with, but I know the father of that family and when the kids are out he's always there keeping an eye on them and they don't leave the yard. I don't see things changing really until she's much older.

 

[tallybee]

It really depends on the area and how mature/sensible the child is

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

My children are 7 and 5 and I do not let them out unsupervised x

 

[jenmc226]

We live in a subdivision. Lots of houses not a lot of traffic (sub division traffic only). There are a lot of kids. I let my son run over to the house next door on either side unattended at 4. He's 6 now and there are about 8 friends houses that I can see from my home. He goes to any of them unattended. He crosses the street himself. He'll bike or scooter himself there even.

 

[meli1981]

it depends on where you live and your neighbourhood. i live in canada, and even though its safe i still wouldnt let my six year old roam the neighbourhood alone! you just hear so many stories! im not sure the age in which i will feel comfortable with this, it may be when she is middle school, who knows!

 

[hypnorm]

My son will be 7 in August and there is no way he will be let out to go to other friends houses until he is 9-10, as for 'roaming' that will be a strict no. Going to a friends house or to the park yes, out for a specific reason. I was never allowed out to 'roam' I never had friends close enough and was on a busy main road.
My son has no road sense at all and is very trusting of people, In my personal opinion I think it is irresponsible to let child out unsupervised under the age of 8, isnt it illegal to leave a child of this age at home alone.. Yet they can wander around the street which is even more full of hazards.

 

[marley2580]

I let my two play out in the front street so long as they stay where they can be seen. I won't let them any further than that for a while yet. It's a shame though as no one else on my street seems to let their kids out to play so my 2 don't have any local friends yet.

 

[LittleLady04]

I have a large public field area behind my house that I allow my SS to go out to play in and occasionally I'll let my 6 year old dd go out with him and his friends too. But I would NEVER let them roam, I just couldn't relax at all