How old before child can play outside on their own?

How old before child can play outside on their own?

As a school principal I am amazed at how old children must be before parents will allow them to play outside without a parent present. It seems like this age is getting older and older!

What age did you (or will you) allow your child to play outside on their own?
 
Back in the dark ages when i was a child within our specified boundries I can't remember a time when we weren't allowed to play outside alone. I would say that my earliest recolection of playing outside alone was about 3 maybe 4 years old. We lived in a house on a farm .the yard was fenced and we spent hours withour parents inside out odf site.
My chidren were permitted to play outside alone in a fenced yard and with in specific limits unfenced yard from about age 4.

Of cource a lot depends on the neighborhood and the child.
Today with TV and computers it more a matter of getting tem to go out than concern for them being unchaperoned.

It's a frightening world out there. young children abducted from the yard ,house. Molested stollen murdered. No wonder parents are watching their children closer.

sincerly
Cliff
 
To be honest there are child molestoes on the news every night now. I used to think some of my relatives were extreme about things like this but now I don't even want my teenagers unsupervised.
 
Well, I think in this day and age there is no such thing as being too careful or too overprotective.
Children of all ages are snatched and lured, every day~
Just this summer, my 15 yr old and 13 yr old sons walked to the store in broad daylight.
Walking home with their food they noticed 2 boys following them, so my boys cut through the park.
The other 2 boys caught up with them and grabbed their food and started hitting my younger son.
When my older son went to his rescue one boy pulled and held a knife on him and had to watch his younger brother get kicked in the head.

My son stuck his hand in his pocket and hit a random number, calling their brother 10 miles away who then called me saying he only heard fighting and screaming.

The worst part?
There were adults at the park and my sons were screaming to them for help and not one person came to them!
The police have not done anything either and we know where one of the boys lives because they both ran into a house near the park!

Please trust me when I say children are not safe alone anywhere at any age.
I have a relative in prison right now.
Never take your eyes off your children!!!
Even those you are sure you can trust to babysit......
BE CAREFUL!
It's a sad world.
 
My son probably won't ever be able to play outside on his own....well, maaaaybe when he's 30! :rolleyes: LOL...no really, we live in the city so he probably won't be in any yard playing without an adult present.
 
Well, I think in this day and age there is no such thing as being too careful or too overprotective.

Children of all ages are snatched and lured, every day~
Just this summer, my 15 yr old and 13 yr old sons walked to the store in broad daylight.
Walking home with their food they noticed 2 boys following them, so my boys cut through the park.
The other 2 boys caught up with them and grabbed their food and started hitting my younger son.
When my older son went to his rescue one boy pulled and held a knife on him and had to watch his younger brother get kicked in the head.

My son stuck his hand in his pocket and hit a random number, calling their brother 10 miles away who then called me saying he only heard fighting and screaming.

The worst part?
There were adults at the park and my sons were screaming to them for help and not one person came to them!
The police have not done anything either and we know where one of the boys lives because they both ran into a house near the park!

Please trust me when I say children are not safe alone anywhere at any age.
I have a relative in prison right now.
Never take your eyes off your children!!!
Even those you are sure you can trust to babysit......
BE CAREFUL!
It's a sad world.

Wow, that is quite a story. How scary. May I ask what your relative is in prison for? Or is that too personal?

Thank you for reminding us we can never be too careful.
 
sad place to live when others who are evil change you.that is what is happening,we are getting more withdrawn from society because of news,a small % of evil are changing our societies.
 
But th e% is growing and growing. Scripture says that sin breeds more sin, and when you combine the accessibility to pronography that the internet has proliferated and modern media has downplayed as harmless entertainment, along with the deacay of morality as a whole,especially noticeable to me here in the U.S, it is frightening. We found out 2 years ago, thanks to a concientious neighbor, that there was a convicted sex offender renting a house in our small neighborhood. We were not notified by the owner of the home that rented to this man, nor do know if he even knew who he was renting to. I do know that the guy only got 3 years probation, so it could have been a case of 18 year old guy with a 16 year old girlfriend have consentual sex, and hte parents finding out and reporting him, or it could have been worse,we just don;t know for sure. I think Violet is correct. While yes, its sad that our children cannot, at least in some areas of the country or the world, enjoy the freedom and innocence as we had it growing up, it is our responsibility as Christian parents to protect our children and instill in them the wisdom to protect themselves once they are out on their own. And, as evil continues to previal more and more in this world, our methods to keep our children safe must also increase in their diligence and severity.
 
i think you are correct,filth brings more filth,and when our tv,s papers and the like make sin normal,then we know we are in hell or as near to as it as i want to be.the world is LOOPY controlled like puppets on a string.keep up the good morals,by reading Gods commandments.
 
Well I don't have children, but I am the director of a childcare centre. I am always amazed at the rules we have to follow ( and for good reason), yet these all go out the window the second the parent collects the child.

For example - A parent can collect a child, swear at them in the carpark, not put their seat belt on and light up a cigarette in the car all before they leave our grounds. If any of my staff or I did any of those things (and we never would), we'd be in trouble with the authorities.

Likewise a parent can leave their child unattending and unsupervised from whatever age they like in their yard - is this safe? Nope, illegal - nope.

So the answer to the question, in my case, no child under the age of 12 can be left to play outside on their own.
 
Here in Australia, a 12 year old, Daniel Morcom, was waiting to catch the bus to go Christmas shopping, he never came home - that was five years ago and the case remains unsolved. I don't know what the answer is, other than that as christians, I guess we need to develop the faith that God will protect our children. Plead the blood over them each and every day.
 
sorry but kids shouldn,t have to suffer because of loopy people.lets try locking these loopy people down instead of our children,also your case against parents is very detremental to good parents.
 
As soon as Baby Jessie is old enough to scream loud enough to wake up a coma patient, he can go outside to play...but he has to stay in sight!

I'm going to teach him to scream. I'm going to teach him to kick and scratch and throw a fit if anybody that he doesn't know touches him.

Not every person in the world is a Christian. Even some people who label themselves as Christian are dangerous (referring to a recent story in the Pacific Northwest regarding a pastor who is now in jail).

If Baby Jessie isn't in my constant sight, then he'd better be in sight of another adult that I trust with his safety at all times.
 
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