Playing outside paranoia and does it matter how many kids are outside at the same time? Is “safety in numbers” real?

[Anonymous]

6yo first grader who has a good handful of neighborhood friends and there’s a playground/park type area within feet of our home with a regular kids playground equipment setup. Sometimes there’s 5 kids out, other times maybe one other kid. Ages in the direct neighborhood that play there are 4-12. The older kids are actually pretty good about sharing the soccer ball or football with the younger ones, putting them on/off swings. A mix of boys and girls.

Of course playing alone seems to be the riskiest but is there really safety in numbers when it comes to things like random abductions?

[Anonymous]

I think that there is safety in numbers abductionwise but abductions are very rare.

I think a much more likely problem with a 6 year old is a kid running into the street after a ball and getting hit, or a fall from the monkey bars, etc . . . I think that having older kids who would go for help is a benefit in this situation. On the other hand, I think that there are some older kids who will stop a younger kid from doing something unsafe, and some that will egg the kid on. So, knowing the dynamic is hard.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't be concerned about abduction with multiple kids running around one area.

[Anonymous]

I'd get each kid to have a buddy - they look out for that kid, if one gets injured the other gets them help, if one leaves the other leaves with them, etc. That way somebody is paying attention if one walks off.

[Anonymous]

Stranger abductions are very rare. I mean if there are 2 little kids playing in the playground and a parent there watching them, it would be pretty hard for someone to be able to come in and abduct them. They'd have an easier time grabbing a kid unnoticed the busier it is and just waiting for one to wander off to the side I guess. I can remember the days of watching DS at a crowded playground and you could lose sight of him pretty easily. I tended to station myself at the only entrance/exit to the playground we went to.

[Anonymous]

Stranger abductions are so rare it’s literally insane to consider them in making choices.

[Anonymous]

What random abductions?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t put stranger abductions on my radar in terms of playing outside. I would consider traffic - neighborhood cars and also delivery trucks and utilities. I would also be concerned about bullying and kids not playing well together, which can happen with mixed age groups and no parents supervising. Also (this will depend on your kid and their age), kids wandering away from where they’re supposed to be.

[Anonymous]

Most abductions are by divorcing parents.

[Anonymous]

The number of stranger abductions of non teen children every year in America is less than 50.

[Anonymous]

Stranger abductions are so rare that it isn't even something I considered when DS was little beyond the standard safety measure (like obviously I still had eyes on him).

In a playground setting my 2 concerns were

1. Safety with other kids/equipment
2. If the playground was self contained or if I had to worry about him wandering off to the soccer fields or wandering into the parking lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t put stranger abductions on my radar in terms of playing outside. I would consider traffic - neighborhood cars and also delivery trucks and utilities. I would also be concerned about bullying and kids not playing well together, which can happen with mixed age groups and no parents supervising. Also (this will depend on your kid and their age), kids wandering away from where they’re supposed to be.

+1. I think there should be one adult supervising (maybe with a book, which is less engrossing than a phone). Perhaps trade off with other neighborhood parents? This sounds like a great and enviable setup to me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t put stranger abductions on my radar in terms of playing outside. I would consider traffic - neighborhood cars and also delivery trucks and utilities. I would also be concerned about bullying and kids not playing well together, which can happen with mixed age groups and no parents supervising. Also (this will depend on your kid and their age), kids wandering away from where they’re supposed to be.

+1. I think there should be one adult supervising (maybe with a book, which is less engrossing than a phone). Perhaps trade off with other neighborhood parents? This sounds like a great and enviable setup to me!

This is a good way to drive away all of the kids your kid is playing with. Once a grownup turns up to "supervise" every 8+ year old will be immediately gone.

[Anonymous]

There is almost nothing you can do to stop a random abduction other than never letting your child out of your sight, which is 100% damaging to their mental health

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that there is safety in numbers abductionwise but abductions are very rare.

I think a much more likely problem with a 6 year old is a kid running into the street after a ball and getting hit, or a fall from the monkey bars, etc . . . I think that having older kids who would go for help is a benefit in this situation. On the other hand, I think that there are some older kids who will stop a younger kid from doing something unsafe, and some that will egg the kid on. So, knowing the dynamic is hard.

This. And it's more real with older kids. You don't get much safety no matter how many unaccompanied 4 year olds are there.

My 5yo was briefly unaccompanied at a playground and ended up working out with a high school girls track team and getting a little eyeshadow too. You never know what might happen.