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"Just livin' day by day"
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Do you let them run loose until it's time to eat or getting close to dark?
How young is too young?
Just asking because I was rather taken aback when my brother and his wife allowed their 4yr. old son run amok barely paying attention to him. I was just a bit like, WTF, he's still a little boy and I was worried about him. My Nephew did meet and play with another boy who was a bit older than him, maybe about 6-7yrs. old.
That's wonderful but my 4yr. old nephew was literally gone all afternoon & evening playing with this other kid, expect when it was time to eat and snack time. Then as it was getting dark, my brother got him back to our campsite and went off on him in the trailer because he was all wet & dirty. His older sister didn't stray too far. She stayed around at the campsite most of the time.
I may not be a parent but 4yrs. old seem too young to be running around most of the day without parental supervision. I was concerned with older kids being mean to him, especially teenage boys. They can be awful. And increasing the risk of someone doing something inappropriate to him like molestation. The campground is somewhat isolated and the sites are wide apart.
Just because my 4yr. old nephew can talk well doesn't mean he can verbalize something that happens. I'm annoyed by my brother & his wife's permissive parenting. It wouldn't surprise me if he becomes a "wild child" as he becomes older seeing the parents don't seem to care to pay much attention to him during their free time. It breaks my heart.
Growing up, my family didn't camp much but I remember we kinda all stuck as a group throughout the camping trip. We didn't go off yonder all day & evening whenever we wanted.
Last edited by HappyFarm34; 07-15-2021 at 08:41 PM..
Speaking as the camper in the site next door, it is beyond rude to allow your children to run around the campground, going through other people's camps, throwing things, and making lots of noise.
Just because you are camping doesn't mean that manners get thrown out the window, and it doesn't mean "the village" is there hoping they can watch your child so you don't have to.
OP, I remember reading about an incident a few years ago, where a child was snatched from a campground after wandering off. The parents were keeping an eye on him very generally, but when he went off into some shrubs only for a few minutes, the dad called for him, but there was no response; no returned child. That triggered a panicked search by the parents, then a report to park authorities or police or whoever. I'm not sure how it ended. I've read a couple of stories of this nature, so I don't want to make a guess, because I may be confusing the two stories.
Anyway, kids out in nature, or in a campground area where there are other adults (strangers) around, can disappear in seconds, sometimes forever. Your concerns are not unfounded.
Speaking as the camper in the site next door, it is beyond rude to allow your children to run around the campground, going through other people's camps, throwing things, and making lots of noise.
Just because you are camping doesn't mean that manners get thrown out the window, and it doesn't mean "the village" is there hoping they can watch your child so you don't have to.
Great points. Frankly, at a camp ground, among strangers, I would give a young child less freedom than at home, where they know all their neighbors. At home do the parents allow the four year old to wander for hours around the neighborhood without directly supervising him? I really hope not. It is dangerous and most likely they would quickly get a visit from CPS.
I have camped a lot in my lifetime and as a generalization, people with kids take their children camping as a bonding experience with their children. They are doing things with their kids, not hoping their kids will go away and annoy someone else and leave them alone. For the most part, children in campgrounds are well behaved. People who do things with their children tend to have well behaved kids.
Reasonable noise of children having fun is OK in a campground. If there is a swim beach, then lots of kid noise is expected at the beach. But if the kids are swimming, the parents should be watching the kids, not assuming someone else will step in as lifeguard and rescue their child while the parent sits in their campsite sipping wine, relieved that their child is leaving them alone.
There are dangers in campgrounds that a child is not exposed to at home. Kids need to be taught and watched not turned loose and never seen for hours at a time.
We camped a lot for family vacations. A lot. We generally picked places that had play areas, open space, water etc.. Our kids were always in earshot or eye distance- but we let them be kids. They were never a nuisance.
In fact when our daughter was an infant, the family in the campsite next to us had a teenage daughter that simply adored her and watched her when we took our son to the nature center or he wanted to horse around etc.. On several occasions we had other children come over to our campsite to meet our kids and play. I guess we were fortunate in that most people we met didn't mind a gaggle of kids, and adults just kind of watched over them with one eye. We didn't mind if they went to other campsites (with kids) if the other parents didn't care- and most of us didn't.
When they got a bit older- they would walk to the nature centers themselves and spend the day doing activities with the rangers and staff. It's good to let them 'walk alone' to places like that- a little independence and sense of adventure is great medicine for children.
We let our kids be kids. They knew not to bug others or roam into campsites unwelcomed or without permission.
We live on some acreage, and we have woods. A family moved in up the road from us and their young children discovered our kids old 'hideaway' tucked into the woods. They play up in there all the time. We don't mind. Let kids be kids. It's better than them wearing out their thumbs on video games.
Sometimes, just sometimes kids that explore and enjoy the out of doors become passionate about it.
Do you let them run loose until it's time to eat or getting close to dark?
How young is too young?
Just asking because I was rather taken aback when my brother and his wife allowed their 4yr. old son run amok barely paying attention to him. I was just a bit like, WTF, he's still a little boy and I was worried about him. My Nephew did meet and play with another boy who was a bit older than him, maybe about 6-7yrs. old.
That's wonderful but my 4yr. old nephew was literally gone all afternoon & evening playing with this other kid, expect when it was time to eat and snack time. Then as it was getting dark, my brother got him back to our campsite and went off on him in the trailer because he was all wet & dirty. His older sister didn't stray too far. She stayed around at the campsite most of the time.
I may not be a parent but 4yrs. old seem too young to be running around most of the day without parental supervision. I was concerned with older kids being mean to him, especially teenage boys. They can be awful. And increasing the risk of someone doing something inappropriate to him like molestation. The campground is somewhat isolated and the sites are wide apart.
Just because my 4yr. old nephew can talk well doesn't mean he can verbalize something that happens. I'm annoyed by my brother & his wife's permissive parenting. It wouldn't surprise me if he becomes a "wild child" as he becomes older seeing the parents don't seem to care to pay much attention to him during their free time. It breaks my heart.
Growing up, my family didn't camp much but I remember we kinda all stuck as a group throughout the camping trip. We didn't go off yonder all day & evening whenever we wanted.
So which was it, the kid was running amok or the kid found a playmate to spend time with at some other campsite?
One is ok, the other is not. One of the joys of camping is meeting new people and making new friends, otherwise why not just pitch a tent in the backyard?
Molestation can happen at church, at daycare, at family gatherings, with a neighbor child in your own backyard, well pretty much anywhere people are. Nothing special about a campground in that regard.
Speaking as the camper in the site next door, it is beyond rude to allow your children to run around the campground, going through other people's camps, throwing things, and making lots of noise.
Just because you are camping doesn't mean that manners get thrown out the window, and it doesn't mean "the village" is there hoping they can watch your child so you don't have to.
Too many parents—and dog owners—treat the outdoors as a playground for brats to work off their obnoxiousness, while the alleged parents/owners take a vacation...from their allegedly beloved charges.
RUDE beyond belief. Don’t be surprised if said brats get even more rudely booted out of someone else’s site or yelled at or reported to CG host if there is one. Kidnapping? Unlikely.
I've camped most of my life. I met a lot of new friends while on our family camping trips. Many times it would be from the family in the campsite next to us, that we didn't know, walking over and inviting us to come over and enjoy snacks around their campfire. All of us kids started playing together.
My son and DIL take their kids camping from time to time. Kids age from 14 to 5. They take their bicycles and ride around the campground but ride safely. The two older ones have been taught to keep an eye out for their younger sisters. What I liked is when they found the playground at one campground, the 12 yr old son rode his bike back to tell Mom and Dad where they were and where the playground was. A time limit was given and all 4 were back in time.
Speaking as the camper in the site next door, it is beyond rude to allow your children to run around the campground, going through other people's camps, throwing things, and making lots of noise.
Just because you are camping doesn't mean that manners get thrown out the window, and it doesn't mean "the village" is there hoping they can watch your child so you don't have to.
So true.
Last summer when we were at Glacier in the big KOA there, a group of young teens were zooming around the campground roads on ATVs raising huge dust clouds, narrowly missing other people and kids, and making a ton of noise. Someone finally called the office and they stopped them.
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Your concerns are not unfounded.
