Letting 11yo roam

[Anonymous]

It really depends on the kid. It’s not a no-brainer. Mine was a late-bloomer. And lacked executive-functioning.

[Anonymous]

Definitely. That’s the age my kid started taking the bus to get ice cream with friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I let my 7 year old do this.
So yes. I love that both of my kids are independent (older one is 13 and we let him do the same). And I prefer them outside exploring and playing than inside on screens.

You realize some families may not want your 7 year old to knock on their door to hang out at their house. And, that's irresponsible not to be supervising them. Its not that they are independent, you refuse to parent.

An average seven year old doesn't need that much supervision. We have a neighborhood seven year old knock on our door all the time. She plays with my kid and essentially no one is "supervising" them. They know where adults are if there's an emergency, but other than that the adults aren't involved. It's fine.

[Anonymous]

Look at everyone trying to outdo each other with how young their kids were when they started free ranging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I let my 7 year old do this.
So yes. I love that both of my kids are independent (older one is 13 and we let him do the same). And I prefer them outside exploring and playing than inside on screens.

You realize some families may not want your 7 year old to knock on their door to hang out at their house. And, that's irresponsible not to be supervising them. It's not that they are independent, you refuse to parent.

Obviously they would know to avoid you and your house.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure I'm in the minority on this, but we let our 10 year old boy roam pretty much all throughout town. He has an apple watch, so we can keep track of him. But the reality is reception can be spotty so we really rely on him to stay safe and get in touch with us if he needs to. He's been doing this for a year or so and it's gone really well. Granted, our town is small and walkable so he's not going more than a mile on mostly quiet residential streets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I let my 7 year old do this.
So yes. I love that both of my kids are independent (older one is 13 and we let him do the same). And I prefer them outside exploring and playing than inside on screens.

You realize some families may not want your 7 year old to knock on their door to hang out at their house. And, that's irresponsible not to be supervising them. Its not that they are independent, you refuse to parent.

An average seven year old doesn't need that much supervision. We have a neighborhood seven year old knock on our door all the time. She plays with my kid and essentially no one is "supervising" them. They know where adults are if there's an emergency, but other than that the adults aren't involved. It's fine.

Yes, they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I let my 7 year old do this.
So yes. I love that both of my kids are independent (older one is 13 and we let him do the same). And I prefer them outside exploring and playing than inside on screens.

You realize some families may not want your 7 year old to knock on their door to hang out at their house. And, that's irresponsible not to be supervising them. Its not that they are independent, you refuse to parent.

An average seven year old doesn't need that much supervision. We have a neighborhood seven year old knock on our door all the time. She plays with my kid and essentially no one is "supervising" them. They know where adults are if there's an emergency, but other than that the adults aren't involved. It's fine.

Yes, they do.

Listen I can't make you raise your kids right, but this attitude hurts them. Oversupervision is just as much of a problem as undersupervision.

[Anonymous]

We let our 8 yo "roam." That is we have a WhatsApp group of about 20 or so families who send out a message that they are sending their kid out to play at X place and the rest of the crew follow. They spend time like you would want 8 yo boys to spend time. They play or make up games with whatever type of sportsball they have around. They play soccer, baseball, wifle ball, kickball or some other game.

My son has a watch that allows us to track him and to call him. The other parents send out messages when the kids move to one of their houses telling the others that they have X, Y, Z kid at their house. The kids show up at one of our houses in the neighborhood and we feed them, they play a bit and then they head back out, usually on bikes.

We are in DC and our neighborhood has very clearly defined boundaries. The boys do not venture beyond the places they play or their houses.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I let both my kids do this at this age (a boy and a girl for what that is worth).

They had Apple Watches. They are told boundaries they shouldn't cross and if they want to cross them, they need to check in and ask. The girl got different guidelines than the boy in terms of routes to take, things to avoid, when to be with a friend.

Both are teenagers and doing just fine. This is healthy for them. You want a kid who wants to roam. I think it is really developmentally normal and healthy in the tween years to do this.

[Anonymous]

This is so nuts to me. As an 11 year old in 6th grade, my daughter could go to the mall with her friends and they could get Starbucks and shop. Of course they could walk around their neighborhood and find their friends at a much earlier age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I let my six year old do it with a sibling and a seven year old alone.

Not allowed to cross major streets though. Neighborhood only.

It is NOT normal that you are even hesitant for any reason other than pedestrian safety. She can babysit in less than two years!!

Same, but only on our cul-de-sac. They have two doors they are allowed to knock on after homework. Sadly, everyone else is in day care.

[Anonymous]

It depends on many other factors besides biological age!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is so nuts to me. As an 11 year old in 6th grade, my daughter could go to the mall with her friends and they could get Starbucks and shop. Of course they could walk around their neighborhood and find their friends at a much earlier age.

classic DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on the kid. It’s not a no-brainer. Mine was a late-bloomer. And lacked executive-functioning.

You’re confusing cause and effect. He had no EF because you never let him learn or do anything.

Mine had ADHD and are capable of walking neighborhood streets at age 11. If it’s just EF/ADHD, you should be working toward that goal before this age. It’s important to let all kids learn and feel capable.