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View Full Version : Is it just me?



marzi
24-05-2010, 05:14 PM
A young lad from my sons class at school has just called round to see if my son is coming out to play. They are 6 year olds. It seems everyone round here lets there kids out without hesitation. Am i over paranoid by not letting him out to roam the streets?

LOOPYLISA
24-05-2010, 05:18 PM
No my dd never went out unless i could see her at all times :thumbsup:

Usually in the back ally if she did

miffy
24-05-2010, 05:20 PM
No, I wouldn't let a six year old play out on the street on their own

Miffy xx

~Chelle~
24-05-2010, 05:23 PM
My sons, aged 11 and 8 play out the front, where I can see them. The older one is allowed around the corner to his friends house.

I saw my neighbours 3 year old daughter outside my house yesterday and thought she had escaped, as she had done before. Took her back home and her mum said, "oh no it is fine, she is playing up the top field with her brother", who is 7 :eek: :eek: Well the brother was no where in sight. We live in a cul de sac but there are cars coming and going all the time, in and out of driveways and there is no way that someone would see her if they were reversing out of their drive!:angry:

Tina O
24-05-2010, 05:30 PM
Happens over here as well, my son (10) has started playing out in the square (small area on the street) but there are always little toddlers out there!

huggableshelly
24-05-2010, 05:44 PM
2 gals knocked for my son last night at 9pm asking if he can go out on his bike, they are in his class at school, he is only 8 and was sleeping!

Lainey Lou
24-05-2010, 05:45 PM
No don't think you are being over paranoid at all. When my daughter was growing up it used to drive me mad when other parents used to let their kids roam here there and everywhere, and then your kids think you are being mean when you tell them 'No'! :) x

clio0602
24-05-2010, 05:52 PM
I won't let my 9yr old play out on the street :blush:

marzi
24-05-2010, 05:56 PM
I'm glad its not just me then. My daughter is nearly 11 and she is allowed to the park or her friends for max of 1 hr then has to come back. Where we live the houses are on a footpath rather than the road but i live in a 3 storey house and my lounge is in the middle so i cant even sit and watch him out the front. I walked to the shop the other day and a boy of maybe 3 was out on his own and has been several times. Its awful.

Ripeberry
24-05-2010, 05:56 PM
I have a rule that if it's a school night, then my kids can't go out past 7pm.
We have fields and a large wooded area in front of the houses all surrounded by fences so they are not on the road.

If it's nice like today I would rather they play out there (my own kids and their friends), than in my garden.

Alibali
25-05-2010, 02:09 PM
Mine went out to play when they were six, it is quiet where we are and they were only (still are) allowed up and down the street in front of the house, they need to learn to play and learn boundries and trust etc.

Beetlejuice
25-05-2010, 02:23 PM
No I don't let my 6 year old out to play in the streets and we live in a cul de sac!

RedDragon
25-05-2010, 02:47 PM
1 of mine is nearly 16 and he's not allowed out unless there is a reason e.g. football etc - I like to know where he is - I can't settle otherwise.

6? I would die of worry.

sandy64
25-05-2010, 04:02 PM
my dd is 6 id never dream of letting her play out but were on a main rd, maybe if i was on an estate and could play in front of house i would watch her through a window. i think it depends where you live how safe it is and time but always under close eye.:)

FizzysFriends
25-05-2010, 04:35 PM
7yr old mindee plays out that they ride their bikes and play in the actual road and the don't live in a cul de sac.

My 7yr old isn't allowed to play out but there are no children the same age around here so its never been a problem.

TammyN
25-05-2010, 04:41 PM
i send my ds out on the path outside my house......with his dad :blush:
no way could he go on his own, my neighbours let their children out, 6 and 8 so my ds throws the ball over to them from our back garden :clapping: or they come in and play.

Tinglesnark
25-05-2010, 04:42 PM
ooooh nooooooo me neither!
x

ChocolateChip
25-05-2010, 06:10 PM
No it's not just you!

I live at the top of a cul-de-sac and the pavement carries on through to a small toddler park and an open space around the footpath which goes on down to our local school. So from various windows in the house I can see most of the park, the open space and the adjoining school playing field but my children still didn't go out by themselves until they were 7 (and I flitted like a hawk from window to window, lol!)
My son is now 10 and is allowed to go a little further afield, but only to places I know like friend's houses, my dd is now 8 and apart from one of her friends down the road she still has to stay 'in the zone'.
My 3 yr old can't go out unless me or daddy takes her, the other two are always asking if they can take her to the park because it seems as if half the estate's toddlers are cared for by their siblings :angry: and they want to look after their sister aswell. The things that go on make me cringe- kids flying out into roads on bikes and scooters, swearing, fights, children as young as 3 and 4 (and sometimes younger) being let out with older siblings, some of whom are only 6 themselves :eek:

It causes such arguments in our house, and I'm having real problems with my son's behaviour because all the other kids in his class are allowed to wander where they like and are out until 9 or 10pm, but I just won't let him- he can't seem to understand that all these kids are the ones who are in trouble at school and with the local police, basically because their parents don't give a stuff :angry:
I sometimes think I am being too over protective but then I see how some of these children behave and talk when I help out at youth club and I am just so glad that I know where my kids are and what they're up to!

SYLVIA
25-05-2010, 06:46 PM
We have a green outside my house, which is also a cul de sac and my own children went out aged 11 and 8 but they had to stay outside. Now I see the new children out there ages range from 3 to 13 and they are all generally at the other end by the road waving to passing cars. Makes my stomach turn at the thought of how easy they could go missing

Trouble
25-05-2010, 06:49 PM
no its not you

my 13 year old daughter is on the park with friends as we speak and to take my mine of being paranoid im chatting to you lot til 8oclock when she returns home:D

Mookins
25-05-2010, 06:55 PM
oh my word.... we were only ever allowed either in the garden or out the front ofthe house when my mum was out there too

i wasnt allowed out after 8.30pm until i left school at 16!!!!even at weekends
needless to say i stayed at friends houses alot lol

no chance, youre not the only one

x x

Trouble
25-05-2010, 07:03 PM
and shes home :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

Merry-Minder
25-05-2010, 07:09 PM
Ive just started letting my 6 and 8 year old sons play on their bikes out the front of our house, they have set boundries and stay on the path. They are only allowed out for short periods and we watch them out of the windows they are always in sight, and we live on a very quiet road.

What on earth are the parents of 3 year olds thinking letting them out by themselves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

marzi
25-05-2010, 07:25 PM
It seems they come home from school and their parents are so desperate to get rid of them again that they can do what they like. Personally, i'd rather have all of mine in the house, doing my head in, than any of the other possibilities of them being out. I know there's no traffic if they stay away from the road but thats not the only danger! I'm glad to know its not just me being paranoid!

Hebs
25-05-2010, 07:31 PM
1 of mine is nearly 16 and he's not allowed out unless there is a reason e.g. football etc - I like to know where he is - I can't settle otherwise.

6? I would die of worry.

what? :panic:

honestly??

my kids are 13 and 10, melissa goes out with her friends and could be up to 2 or 3 miles away with her friends from school, but she is always in a group and the lads walk the girls home before they go home, and she has to be in by 9pm

Mark has played out in the street since he was 7 (and i live on a main road and on a bus route) he knows how to cross the main road but up until last summer we watched him cross, his rules are (cos he cant tell the time yet) is that he MUST be home when the street lights go on, and he always tells me where he is going, and checks back every hour or so.

when i was a kid we would be out all day every day, so why is it different for our kids?

estrelas
25-05-2010, 07:40 PM
what? :panic:

honestly??

my kids are 13 and 10, melissa goes out with her friends and could be up to 2 or 3 miles away with her friends from school, but she is always in a group and the lads walk the girls home before they go home, and she has to be in by 9pm

Mark has played out in the street since he was 7 (and i live on a main road and on a bus route) he knows how to cross the main road but up until last summer we watched him cross, his rules are (cos he cant tell the time yet) is that he MUST be home when the street lights go on, and he always tells me where he is going, and checks back every hour or so.

when i was a kid we would be out all day every day, so why is it different for our kids?

hmmm why is it different for our kids??? Good question when i was younger I was up in a park from maybe seven, and by park i mean a proper park, woods for miles, castle, streams etc
But i still wouldn't let my daughter, she's six now, and no way is she allowed out. I'm not really sure when i'll let her tbh, shes a clever girl but its a horrible world out there, i know we can't keep them in forever but i'm hoping to until shes atleast 10 maybe

Hebs
25-05-2010, 07:54 PM
but its a horrible world out there,

but the world is NO different now to how it was when we were kids, statistics show that, and that the greatest threat doesnt come from strangers but actually people the kids know and scarily within their own family :(

obviously we HEAR about it more thanks to the media but rates haven't gone up

childhood is such a short space of time, let them enjoy being kids and not cooped up as animals :(

Carpet Monkeys
25-05-2010, 08:41 PM
We are fortunate enough(sometimes unfortunate when teenagers are in it till 4am :angry: ) to live about 2 cars lengths away from the entrance to the local park and playing field at the end of a cul de sac, I can see my two 7 & 8 from kitchen, living room, hall windows ... however, I'm always checking in with them on their walkie talkies and popping my nose out the door every few mins. They know where the boundaries are and if I look out and can't see them, they are straight in!!

moljak
25-05-2010, 08:51 PM
My 16 yr old goes to visit friends or goes out on Army cadet nights.I won't allow him to sit in the park and drink and smoke with his friends and he knows this so is long past asking.He's a sociable responsible boy.I agree with letting them grow up, develop independance ect but when most of his friends roll home drunk, end up in hospital after fighting or getting their stomachs pumped then I'd rather he was upstairs on his playstation.

My DD is 7 and mostly plays in our back garden.I encourage her friends to come in and play where I can see them.She does think this is unfair as she sees 3 yr olds out on their own but this is what makes me comfortable and I don't feel either of them are missing out on any social interaction.

nannymcflea
25-05-2010, 09:08 PM
My girls are 7 and 10. Before we moved(8 months ago) we lived in a cul-de-sac and they were allowed on bikes on the path and eldest was allowed to cycle around the block, out of site but on the path.

We now live on a busier road and 10 year old is allowed to walk to school with friends, go to the shop but not wander the streets.

7 year old walks to and from school with dad, gets escorted to the shop and friends houses. She is allowed to rollerskate outside, within boundaries.

I agree that kids need to have freedom but having experienced some not nice things as a child I know what sort of people are out there and will not let my girls experience the same.

As they grow they will get more freedom, E will be allowed to "shop" with friends etc and walk to friends houses soon as she is showing responsibility.:thumbsup: