At what age...
Is a child old enough to walk down the street to a friends house or bus stop by themselves? Or with a adult watching from a distance?
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Is a child old enough to walk down the street to a friends house or bus stop by themselves? Or with a adult watching from a distance?
Comments
I really do think that
I really do think that varies, depending on the child and the area in which you live.
Please this is the biggest
Please this is the biggest argument I have with DH so I am curious to what everyone thinks also. My daughter is 9 and SD15. We live in a nice neighborhood but on a long long street that curves and twists so I cannot see past 2 houses down. SD has to be at the bus by 7. Too early for me. My 9 yr old has to be at bus by 8.
DH thinks its if its ok for SD to have to walk all the way to bus stop then its ok for my 9 yr old but I disagree. I do not know every single neighbor and I do not want her standing alone on a street corner. So I reluctantly allow her to ride her bike to the bus to keep the peace but I am not happy about it at all. When he is not home I drive her. Sick of SD complaining about it too. SD is 15 and no one wants to kidnap her, trust me }:)
Sorry I took over your blog
But I see that many of my neighbors are just starting to allow their 7 yr olds outside without them but we live on a dead end street.
Yes I do know many of the
Yes I do know many of the neighbors, at least the ones with dogs and kids. But at the turn of the street there are some questionable neighbors that rent a house (we rent ours also) but they have different people in and out and one was actually a sex offender. Luckily the neighbors found out and outed him and the police made him leave.
One neighbor says she sees my daughter on her bike and watches her for me but I still dont like it. We are the very last house on this long street and all the other kids are younger and get driven. We do live in a very safe neighborhood so maybe I am overprotective.
I just do not like that DH says to me that I worry about my own child getting kidnapped (who is 9 and a pretty little girl) and I don't worry about SD15 getting kidnapped. SD15 is old enough to go to the mall with her friends and will be driving soon so its a different situation. Its so aggravating!!!!
I agree it depends on the
I agree it depends on the child but never take it granted, we also have someone watching.
Yes I totally agree and I say
Yes I totally agree and I say the same thing when I see young kids walking alone. I have been driving her lately because I would rather be safe than sorry. She is in 4th grade and will be turning 10 in December but she's still my baby and I am very overprotective of her.
I made it clear to DH and SD not to wake me up anymore so she started waking him up at 6:45 and he got so aggravated that he told her to walk or ride her bike and not to wake him ever again!!
I totally agree with this.
I totally agree with this. You are your child's mother and if you feel that she is too young and want to walk or drive her to the bus stop, that is your prerogative. If he's worried about his, he can walk her.
Yes and so sick of hearing
Yes and so sick of hearing SD15 always complaining to everyone that poor SD has to walk all the way to the bus but spoiled 9 yr old gets a ride. boo hoo poor SD once again. Then in the afternoon it starts all over again because she doesn't want to walk home from the bus stop so she starts texting me in a frenzy to pick her up. It never ends!!
In my neighborhood, kids
In my neighborhood, kids start walking about age 8 no more than a block or two. In the n'hood where I work, I constantly see 4th and 5th graders and middle schoolers walking/riding bikes/skateboarding to school.
With the maturity level of my skids, I would let SS11 walk no more than 5 blocks provided he calls when he gets where he's going. I would let SD8 do about the same (maybe a little less).
We also live in downtown of a big city, so people walk here more than say, in the suburbs.
We live in a very middle
We live in a very middle class subdivision in a pretty affluent suburb of a major midwestern city. My stepson has been walking to and from the bus on his own since middle of 1st grade. He is very mature, and it is only a half block from my house.
The reason that I asked is BM
The reason that I asked is BM called yesterday angry that I let Ss6 walk 4 houses down to see his little friend who is 7 or 8. But FDH told her that he has recently been asking to do things by himself so I let him but I usually watch him from a distance. So he thinks he is a big boy but I am watching and make sure he getting there. And usually his little friend is with him.
We do live in a nice area and I know most of the neighbors. The kid down the street has been going places by himself for awhile. Plus I am torn becuse of Ss4, ss6 is at that age where he wants to be around kids his own age or older. Not dealing with his 'baby' brother. So if I let him walk and just watch him then Ss4 doesn't have to go with.
BM just kept saying 'he's 6!'. I do agree he is too little to go by himself but he needs to start learning to do things kind of on his own. So i do watch him but I guess she wants me to continue to hold his hand every step of the way.
And BM added that he didn't want ss6 to play at the house becuase 'it is dumpy'. Seriously I am not going to tell a 6 year old that his friend has a dumpy house so he can't play there. Plus they usually play at our house.
Lastly it bothers me that BM still thinks that she can tell FDH what he can and can't do when HE has the kids. God know if that is the case we have a massive list of thinly she shouldn't do.