Would you let 6th graders trick or treat without parent?
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Anonymous
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We’ve always trailed behind DD on Halloween. This year a group of her friends (all 11 years old) want to go without a parent. My only worry is that they’ll lose each other and my DD will be alone in the dark, without a phone (she doesn’t have one yet). She’s immature for her age and I imagine she would get confused about where she is and have a hard time finding her way home. Also, people drive like maniacs in my neighborhood and there are no sidewalks.
But if the other parents are fine with it, I don’t want to say no. Am i being overprotective? |
Anonymous
| Yes. |
Anonymous
| Yes. |
Anonymous
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I don't think you're being overprotective. I have a 6th grade DD who is mature, responsible, has a phone, and I'm still not letting her go without a parent.
She goes with the same friend every year and I just hang back and let them do their thing. I don't go up to the houses with her, I blend in (lots of people out in the neighborhood), but keep an eye on her. |
Anonymous
| Of course. |
Anonymous
What is your reasoning? What do you perceive as the risks, and how high are they? |
Anonymous
| Land the helicopter. |
Anonymous
| Yes I absolutely would. But OP's 11yo who gets lost and who doesn't know her way home in her sidewalkless, traffic-heavy neighborhood, NO unless the group committed to just staying on their street. |
Anonymous
| Yes. With phones. |
Anonymous
| Depends on the neighborhood. Busy street with lots of trick-or-treaters and sidewalks? Yes. Dark neighborhood with no sidewalks and traffic? No. |
Anonymous
| Wow. My daughter with intellectual disabilities can find her way around our neighborhood. |
Anonymous
Are all the other parents fine with it? 11 is prime age for, "everyone else gets to do it!" If you know some of the other parents, why not ask what safety rules they've put in place? Why would they lose each other, though? If there are so many trick-or-treaters your daughter could get separated from her friends, then it's probably safe to let her go -- cars will be on the lookout. |
Anonymous
Trust me, I'm pretty free range. My kids stayed home by themselves way before many other parents would have (like all day in the summer while I was at work) and I'm the first to say that kids aren't being snatched off the streets as much as cable news would have you believe. But we go to a different neighborhood for trick or treating, not our own, so our house isn't there and my DD doesn't know it well. It's dark, it's chaotic with tons of kids running everywhere. It's just something *I* am not comfortable with my DD doing alone right now. Next year, maybe. |
Anonymous
| Yes. She’ll be in really good company. |
Anonymous
| No. Especially since she is immature for her age. |