Reply to gut check -- age to go to park alone with friend

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "gut check -- age to go to park alone with friend"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm really curious what you all are imagining might happen to your eight-year-old on her way to/from the park or while she was there. I don't mean this to sound snide -- is she not good at looking both ways when crossing the street? takes dumb risks at the playground? can't be trusted to stay where she's supposed to be? Help me understand the threat model.[/quote]

Kids get injured at playgrounds all the time. An 8 year companion may not know to get help, may be embarrassed or ashamed if they caused the injury, just freak out. My 8 year DS is waiting for his letter from Hogworths — they are not yet rational beings. Many kids this age take to jumping from roots to see if they can fly, etc.

Maybe if they both have phones and know how to use them — before there would have been a nearby pay phone to call 911. Now it’s BYOP. But the limits of rational thought should give you pause. And the crime of opportunity by a passing predator — its uncommon to see 8 year olds unattended and if they make a regular occurrence that may attract unwanted attention [/quote]

+1 I agree she’s too young in my opinion. I’m the mom who walked my 8 year old to school in 3rd when the other moms didn’t. Guess what? I saved one kid from multiple cars backing out driveways, another who had an unleashed dog coming toward him, a girl who fell off her bike on the ride to school and was just sitting sobbing with a bloody knee on the sidewalk. None had phones or watches. They are ok most of the time when everything goes according to plan but they can’t foresee danger appropriately and also can’t react to injuries in a lot of cases at that age. There is a big developmental leap difference between an 8 year old and a 10 year old. 
[/quote]

What do you think would have happened if you hadn't been there? [/quote]

I mean maybe kid A would have been hit by a car? He was short. Things happen. Maybe kid B would have been bitten or knocked over by the dog. I guess kid C would have slowly hobbled to school late with dripping blood, left bike on random street that she didn’t know the name of for parent to look for later. It had not occurred to her at the time that she should visit the school nurse so maybe she’d get it cleaned off, maybe not. All were terrified and grateful to receive adult help for situations they were not old enough to handle based on how they were handling.

I guess my point is that if you think your 8 year old could actually handle these things without relying on bystanders then fine. But I think it’s neglectful to expect other adults to do the adulting in common foreseeable situations when you are choosing not to supervise your own young children. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics