What age do you allow your children to play out unsupervised?

[alicecooper]

For the record, I'll show you all where I live :

this is the view from my bedroom window (this is the front of the house)

as you can see it's a little cul-de-sac. There are 10mph signs at the entrance to the estate, and again on the lampost next to the field.

The field is secure and fenced around (though you can't see that very well) so they can't go wandering off over hill and dale.

This is the little gravel road that our house is on (old picture - bout 3 years ago - but anyway...) - our house is the one with the orange car.

There are only 4 houses on it, and then another field beyond it.

If you look down the street past the side of our house (that's our house with the open door), do you see the back of those red houses behind that hedge? They're allowed to go to those houses because :
-in the one on the left lives DS1's best friend Rocco (same age as him, so they're both 5)
-in the one on the right lives my DH's friend (they went to school together), and their two little nieces (one is in my DD's class at school and one is in DS1's class at school) go there at least 2-3 times a week.
Both of those houses are gated off from the rest of the estate (though I'm not entirely sure why) so there's no traffic over in front of those houses - there is a gigantic trampoline over there that the kids end up playing on. Often my kids stop for dinner at one or the other of those houses, and vice versa - the kids from those houses come here for dinner about once a week as well.

So as that's the furthest they are allowed to go, as you can see it's easily within shouting distance of our house. It's not as though they have wandered off somewhere totally random.


So there we go really - that's about the long and short of it. It's not a busy road by any stretch of the imagination, and it's mostly families with children who live in the houses here, so everybody is used to lots of kids milling around and so on.

I agree that letting children play out is not feasible in a lot of places, but here I think it is fine. A lot of the time they just end up in the field in front of the house anyway kicking a ball around or a frisbee or something.
Other times they go to a friends house, but never further than those two red houses.

 

[Natsku]

Ah yeah I wouldn't feel comfortable with needles being left around but thankfully needle drugs aren't so popular here.

 

[Tasha]

That looks lovely Alice, and yes if I live there I would feel differently to here.

 

[Raven24]

i will never allow them to play out the front or anywhere that isnt secure, i dont really see the need, they have a back garden where i can see them at all times or we go to the park where again i can see them at all times.
everyone is different i suppose and its not my place to judge but i do worry that some parents dont think enough about the dangers

 

[Lucasmum]

Lucas is outside alone now, well he has his bike and our cat with him, he rides around the car park that is well off the main road, and he knows if he hears a car to head straight back to the communial garden but there is rarely any cars in or out, he is not allowed to go school on his own even though its a straight road with no roads to cross, I wouldnt feel comfortable with that at all.

Half way through typing this he came in bored lol

 

[smokey]

I was 12 before I was allowed to play out the front unsupervised and even then it was a case of stay near the house where you can be seen.
I porobably will be the same with LO tbh.
Problem is at the moment and for the next 10 years at this rate we live on a second floor flat with a electronic locked comunual entrance door so it wouldn't be that easy for LO to just nip in and out and that's part of what puts me off, that and we live next the river thames and so many accidents can happen.

 

[topsy]

i havent even really thought of this, barley leave LO anywhere on his own other than his cot he wanders after me when I have a wee! Maybe when he is 10-11 last yr of primary school, but think it will depend on how much common sense and safety aware he is at the time. There are sevral children in our street and I know lots of the mums, so would be happy for him to go across there to play when younger-But playing out in the street not sure.

Alice cooper it looks lovely where you live, wish we had a big field that close.

xxx

 

[// arcadia]

I was always out playing when I was little, had amazing fun.

I would love to let Skye out but I just cant. We live on an estate and my road is very quiet .. but over a grass verge about 100 yards away theres a grassy/wooded bit where all the children play and then an A road on the hill above.

I live in a pleasant enough town but last summer my nextdoor neighbour old lady was randomly attacked and stabbed on that grassy/wooded bit for no reason. I know it was a random attack but he has never been found and the thought just stays in the back of your mind something like that could happen again although so rare.

So that is the nail in the coffin really I just cant be sure my LO would be completely safe.

 

[Natsku]

Was talking with OH about this today, we were talking about when Maria starts school we need to move closer to the school (as its a bit far from where we live now) so that she can walk to school. He never even considered the possibility of driving her or walking with her even from the 1st grade. We live in the same town as he grew up in so I guess he knows pretty well how safe it is.

 

[Hunbun]

I don't know what age LO will need to be before I let him out the front alone. We have a fast flowing river right outside so it makes me more nervous. I would say he would need to be ten or older. But that's a long way off so I may change my mind when we get there.

 

[mumoffive]

My dd is 6 and my ds is 5 and they play in the garden and thats it. I dont know when i will feel comfortable letting them out to play where i cant see them but i dont think they are ready and im not ready to let them!!! Certainly not until they can tell the time!! How would they know when to come home??

 

[alicecooper]

How would they know when to come home??

You'd step out of your door, give a shout, and call them home That's what I do!

 

[ChloesMummy]

I allow my 6 nearly 7yr old round to the park. All of her school friends that live down here do also. We live by a military base and the village is predominantly forces or Ex forces families. The park is only used by estate residents and it sits between our house and her aunties. I have risk assessed the situation as a parent and feel it is perfectly fine for her.

If I was back at my parents house or OH's parents house I wouldn't allow her to the park on her own in a million years.

 

[mumoffive]

How would they know when to come home??

You'd step out of your door, give a shout, and call them home That's what I do!

What if they dont hear you? That would send me into a complete panic i would be wondering all sorts. Im not great at letting go so i know im probably way over protective. I have three older sons so have experience and felt difficult to let them go aswell..but i did and it was hard. I think i may worry more because i have girls now and feel they may be more vunerable.

 

[LoraLoo]

My children are 12,8, 4 and 19 months. Only my 12 year old is allowed out to play, and has been for about 12 months now.

However, I cant even see me letting my 8 year old out when he is 11, he is too impulsive and i would just worry the whole time.

We purposely bought a house with a massive garden for them to play in.

 

[babyhopes2010]

maybe 11?? certainly not before, the garden is ok and they could bring there friends around. theres too many psychos in the world

i think each parent has to risk assess the area and their child. we have a v busy main road outside our house and whilst we are v rural.it has alot of traffic. people are going from 60mph and not slowing to 30 thru our village its way to dangerous. also it a child got in the car they would be gone within seconds.

now if we lived in quiet culesac with a park i could see from my window id say maybe 8.

 

[babyhopes2010]

I think people these days keep their kids at home a lot more than they used to. Children used to play out a lot more in days-gone-by, yet the dangers were there back then all the same. The world is no more dangerous now than it was then, yet people seem to think to the contrary.

i dont agree with that statement. the population has increased,so has crime. the amount of cars on the road has increased. The exposure to sex,drugs has increased greatly. speaking to alot of my family. even the enviroment has changed. where there was fields there is now alot of traffic and built up areas. also people have changed and generally everyone is so wrapped up with money and working we have lost our sense of community so thats why i find it hard to agree with your statement.

obviously u are entitled to ur opinion