When will you let your child walk places alone?

chichi589 · January 2015

https://www.wgrz.com/story/news/2015/01/15/parents-investigated-letting-children-walk-alone/21795863/

This article made me think. Obviously this is way down the line for some of our babies but I know some of A14 has older children. At what age will you let your children walk to the park, their friends house, a corner store, school, etc alone or in a group of kids? I lived in the suburbs growing up where there were no sidewalks so we weren't allowed to walk anywhere but I was babysitting by myself at 11. I was always jealous of my cousins who were allowed to do things alone because they had sidewalks.

Where I live now the kids will not walk alone for a long time because there is a factory on my road where people never watch where they are driving.

*sparky* · January 2015

I have a 9-yr-old. I have just recently allowed him to walk to his friend's house that is far enough that I cannot see it and also ride his bike around the block. TBH, it makes me a little nervous because he is alone, but we live in a neighborhood where we know people all along the block that he rides. I will sometimes give him my cell phone to bring along so he can call me if he needs to. If we did not have sidewalks I would not let him go alone.

janellemj928 · January 2015

We live out in the country, so she won't walk anywhere. Although when she's in high school she will be allowed to leave campus for lunch and I'll be okay with that. That's the same age as I was, and I also walked to any after school things (soccer, volleyball) that weren't on campus at that age.

Twirple · January 2015

I don't know the answer to this. I grew up in an area with dirt roads, and had to walk about a half mile from the bus stop to my house, but we were so far from anything else, that we didn't walk to stores by ourselves.

DS is 3.5, and I cannot imagine letting him walk anywhere by himself anytime soon. Maybe when he is 8 or 9?

zazu13 · January 2015

College? And even then I'll be secretly following behind in my car or hiding in the bushes

pbandjmom · January 2015

Yes, we have tons of kids in our neighborhood. I remember when I was little I would ride my bike all over the place. Maybe my parents were just easy-going, but I don't think CYS should be on everyone's butts (neighborhood dependent, perhaps)

lokimau · January 2015

Things are so different since when we were kids

edoliesmom · January 2015

AprilMay9 said:
Those kids look old enough to me. Even the younger one if it is a quiet neighborhood with sidewalks. It's the parents choice and I think a lot of it depends on the neighborhood.

I grew up in a development and I started walking the half mile up the street (one road, with a sidewalk) when I was about 5 or 6. One day a kid the year ahead of me did bully me and chase me. I ran and called my mom who went and yelled at him from her station wagon with her misty life hanging out of her mouth.

Ha! That's what my mom smoked too - Misty menthol light 100s. We also had a station wagon growing up.

*sparky* · January 2015

When my DH was in elementary school they were allowed to leave at lunchtime to go home. Parents did not have to tell the school if their child was to leave or not on any given day, so DH would often ride his bike to the pet store or go to his neighbor's house and ask the woman who lived their to make him lunch. His mom worked and was therefore not home and never ok'd him leaving school.

Merlyna04 · January 2015

I'm little crazy about that ! I am over over protected ,it's just me.

But if is with other kids or parents it is ok , I am the one who walk with other kids and other parents.

chichi589 · January 2015

Obviously no straight answer just curious of opinions as I feel like this article seems a little unfair towards these parents. It's interesting to see different peoples opinions on a topic.

UnofficiallyLO · January 2015

I don't live in walking distance of anything besides a neighbors house so I would have a hard time answering this... maybe 8-10? I don't want to hold my kid back from life experience but I also tend to worry- so I'll have to find a happy medium between "I trust you to walk home from Johnny's before it gets dark" and "I'll drive you there and back so you're not taken".

Rrrrrachel · January 2015

I'm going to plead "I'll know it when I see it."

CalinAZ · January 2015

I'm not sure. Throughout elementary school my siblings and I had full roam of the neighborhood. We used to go up in the drainage ditches in the hills above the streets and use them as our "secret passage ways" to get to a huge oak tree, where there was a swing (that a lot of kids got hurt on). I also regularly went to friends houses a couple blocks away solo (probably from 8ish onwards).

It'll depend on what it's like where we live, though. I would definitely think by middle school, and probably by late elementary.

Talltrees82 · January 2015

I don't see an issue with the kids walking to school, the park, etc. as long as the six year old is with the ten year old. If I saw two kids like that constantly wandering the neighbourhood, I might be concerned. Or the six year old by herself. Obviously depending on the neighbourhood, etc too.

I walked to school on my own at 7, and growing up I played in the ravine and on the street until the streetlights came on. We lived in a subdivision in a quiet town.

Where we live now is such a small town, so depending on where LO is going and who he's with, I might let him have more freedom around age 7/8. Everything's within a kilometre of our house. The elementary school and the park are both on the street behind us.

cnbean · January 2015

I don't know when I'd let kids wander like that. But I can say that I think it's absurd that CPS was called on those parents. People need to mind their own business. I would think that CPS would have enough actual cases of abuse/neglect that they wouldn't need to harass parents who sound like they are doing things right.

CurlieWhirlie · January 2015

We live in a relatively wealthy small town outside a big city. We encourage my ten-year-old step son to walk anywhere in town he feels comfortable walking, and the same with my eight-year-old step son. We've got Motorola walkie-talkies with an insane range of like 5 miles that work all over town. We see groups of kids their age around town by themselves all the time, but it's kind of hard for me to tell the difference between 10 and 12 (because I am OLD).

I try to encourage my five-year-old son to do things independently when he wants to, like waiting by himself on the corner to be picked up by his nana, or walking into the schoolyard by himself, but I can always see him in those instances. I think I was allowed to roam around town on my own with my friends from around the time I was eleven or twelve years old, the same time I started babysitting. For the most part I think our kids are pretty cautious and if they feel comfortable doing something on their own, odds are we will also be comfortable with it.

Jodash24 · January 2015

Hmm ds1 is nearly 8 and he's not allowed out the garden gate, even playing in the garden I'm there watching, we don't live in walking distance to anything. It's going to stay like this for a while

irisheyez7 · January 2015

I wandered around my South Chicago neighborhood alone or with friends since I was about 7-8. We were not allowed to cross the busy streets but we could go to the store, friends houses, ball park, park, sledding hill etc. I walked 6 city blocks to school everyday. We even rode our bikes around the cemetery! I will not allow my kid quite that sort of freedom but the neighborhood we live in I would have no problem letting my 8 year old walk to the park.
It is beyond ridiculous that any sort of government agency got involved in this. People seriously need to live their own lives and quit telling people how to raise there own kids. Just because you wouldn't do it doesn't mean it's wrong.

SoulTermination · January 2015

I remember biking several blocks to my friend's house around 6-7 where we lived in California, and walking even further (probably a couple miles) to my best friend's house when we lived in Colorado in middle school. But that was also 15-20 years ago.

Whether or not I let A-game walk around alone will depend on how much I feel I can trust her to be responsible, and the neighborhoods involved in where she wants to go. Also probably won't happen before about 8-9 or so.

hlm184 · January 2015

Calling CPS for that is utterly absurd.

I don't know when - like y'all said, it depends on a lot of things - but I feel like I'll allow it earlier than other people might. Please don't call CPS on me, that's such a dick move.

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