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My kids play outside with the neighborhood crew. The neighborhood gang is about a dozen kids from 3-11. I personally don't let my own 3-year old outside unless I'm out front as well, but some of my neighbors with kids the same age, do. I let my older kids play on their own, unsupervised, from age 6+. They stay outside, either in the front on the sidewalk, or bop from one backyard to the next. There are five families within a half block who take turns (informally) hosting the kids in the back yard.
This exchange brought back memories. Our town had a summer activity bus for the pool. We'd walk to elementary school two miles away to catch the bus, and then we'd spend the entire day at the pool until the bus came to take everyone home. We were definitely younger than 13 when we started going. I can pinpoint 10 years old for certain, but I may have taken the pool bus younger too.
These are the age rules at our pool:
1. A child between the ages of seven and eleven years old may enter the pool
enclosure unaccompanied under the following conditions:
a. The child must pass a swimming test prescribed by the Pool Manager. The lifeguard staff will maintain a list of children who pass this test. This list will be posted at the front desk.
b. The child's parent or legal guardian must provide written consent. The written consent will be on file at the pool office and noted on the posted list.
2. A child between the ages of seven and eleven years old who does not meet these requirements must be accompanied by a person sixteen years old or older in order to be admitted to the pool.
I find it very interesting to note that when I was a kid (born 1965) we were allowed to run pretty much free as long as we got home in time for dinner. Crime rates in the mid 1970s were FAR FAR HIGHER than they are today. Yet today's parents don't let their children out of their sight. It really makes no sense.
I haven't seen any parents say they don't let their children out of their sight, in the entire thread.
For me, it isn't a function of crime at all. I just know toddlers and the pre-school set are not mentally capable of making the sorts of decisions that come up when they are completely unsupervised. Even those under the age of about 7, are not truly capable of understanding the dangers of wandering into the road, and thus any time you are letting them play on the sidewalk unsupervised you run the risk of them getting distracted and going in the road. It is a risk, many seem to be willing to make. I was not. So when mine were that age, they road their bikes at the park on the bike path (there is no adjoining road).
For those that are comfortable letting really little ones (3-4 yo) run around parks and sidewalks unsupervised I am truly flabbergasted. Maybe I just had kids who were a little clumsy and a little extreme, but there were broken wrists, a broken arm, a split open head, teeth through a lip once, and so on. I can't imagine expecting a toddler, or even a 7 year old, to deal with that until an adult got there.
It is about what level of risk you are willing to take, and the risks I was worried about were the decision making skills of small people who are not even capable yet of predicting consequences of their actions yet, far more than them being victims of crime. Children, particularly very young children, are more likely to hurt themselves than be a victim of a random crime.
I haven't seen any parents say they don't let their children out of their sight, in the entire thread.
For me, it isn't a function of crime at all. I just know toddlers and the pre-school set are not mentally capable of making the sorts of decisions that come up when they are completely unsupervised. Even those under the age of about 7, are not truly capable of understanding the dangers of wandering into the road, and thus any time you are letting them play on the sidewalk unsupervised you run the risk of them getting distracted and going in the road. It is a risk, many seem to be willing to make. I was not. So when mine were that age, they road their bikes at the park on the bike path (there is no adjoining road).
It is about what level of risk you are willing to take, and the risks I was worried about were the decision making skills of small people who are not even capable yet of predicting consequences of their actions yet, far more than them being victims of crime. Children, particularly very young children, are more likely to hurt themselves than be a victim of a random crime.
I realize the OP is talking about 4/5 year olds. I agree with you when we are talking about kids that young. I did not let my kids play in the front yard unsupervised when they were 4/5 years old. They just aren't ready to be unsupervised around cars at that age.
The post I was responding to was someone saying how many pedophiles there were so I responded with a comment about crime.
Around here I see few kids of any age playing outside without parents supervising them. When my kids were in elementary school I saw many more kids outside than I do now. That was only around 5-10 years ago. Most parents do use crime as a reason to keep their kids indoors or closely supervised even at age 10 even if you don't.
Right now it's just so hot outside I think that the reason I don't see kids outside is that any kids who are outside are in their pools in the backyard. However, in the winter when the weather was nice I saw very few kids outside without their parents. The weather does make FL suburban streets look like ghost towns in the summer.
I find it very interesting to note that when I was a kid (born 1965) we were allowed to run pretty much free as long as we got home in time for dinner. Crime rates in the mid 1970s were FAR FAR HIGHER than they are today. Yet today's parents don't let their children out of their sight. It really makes no sense.
Perhaps crime rates are lower because parents are more vigilant.
We live in the suburbs and kids do not play outside unsupervised. In fact, most kids don't play outside (in front of the house, on the streets) at all. They play in their backyards or the park (and go to daycamps/overnight camps, and socialize with friends...but not on the streets). When my son was around 11 he was with a group of his friends at his friends house and they decided to play hide and seek outside. Someone called the police! And now that I think of it, one of my neighbors called the police when a group of teens boys were tossing around a football in the middle of the street.
We live in the suburbs and kids do not play outside unsupervised. In fact, most kids don't play outside (in front of the house, on the streets) at all. They play in their backyards or the park (and go to daycamps/overnight camps, and socialize with friends...but not on the streets).
The last time I checked, parks were considered outside.
Quote:
Originally Posted by twins4lynn
When my son was around 11 he was with a group of his friends at his friends house and they decided to play hide and seek outside. Someone called the police! And now that I think of it, one of my neighbors called the police when a group of teens boys were tossing around a football in the middle of the street.
I was talking about all ages of kids, really. It kind of got taken down the road of younger kids
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