At what age do you think a child can start playing outside "unattended"?

Question

We live in a suburban neighborhood (subdivision) with TONS of kids and families. My one neighbor lets all her kids run around outside when mom and dad are inside. I have a 2 and 4 year old, and her 3 and 5 year old often ask my 2 and 4 year old to play outside. Which in my house, means I go out. Just curious at what age people thiink is appropriate to start letting kids play outside alone. I don't mind going out, by my neighbor has asked my why I feel I have to be out there. What age did you first let your kids play in the yard, cul de sac, or at the neighbors without you.

My neighbor has 7 kids. Even her 2 yr old has been out in the street alone playing. He is supposed to be watched by his siblings...... As for my kids I always go out.

Thanks for all the great answers. We also live in the south, there are tons of snakes around (our lot abuts the woods) and spiders, fire ants, I worry about that as much as I do someone getting hurt, kidnapped, etc. So, I end up watching my kids, even in my neighbors yard with my neighbors kids since they are oblivious.

Answer 1

Oh for the days when I grew up. Our children really have missed the boat on being a kid these days. When I was a child my mom would send us outside on a summer day as soon as we finished breakfast, and we often did not go back inside until it was time to eat lunch, or dinner.

In this dangerous world of today, this is unheard of. I believe the dangers were there when I was a kid....we just have more attention to it played out by the media.

But considering our society as it is, I wouldn't allow my child to be outside playing unattended until he/she were at least 8-9, and then there would be strict rules as to where they could go, and for how long.

Such a shame that the children of today do not have the chance to be kids.

Answer 2

i think six or seven years old is old enough. You just have to take the time to sit down with your child and explain to them what to look for. I have a two and a four year old, and their mother and i have different points of view on this subject. She is not much younger, but she is younger than i, but when i was growing up i would wake up eat breakfast then be gone until lunch time or later. The dangers of someone taking a child back then are the same or worse than they are now. So let kids be kids. Now kids dont have a chance at being kids because the media has everyone beleiving that someone will take you child if you are not beside them all day every day. Please there is a story about a little boy in a town called Leesburg, Fl, which is just up the road from me, where the little boy was taken from his apartment while he and the mother were sleeping. So the dangers are not only when the kids go outside to play.

Answer 3

Its a shame that now a days kids cant be kids. I also have a 2 and 4 year old and if they are outside, Im outside. Thats just the way it is. My 4 year old can go to the neighbors to play or vise versa but us as mothers walk eachothers child to the door when they are done playing. Even if my kids are in the backyard alone its because im in the kitchen cleaning or cooking and can clearly see what they are up to. Im not paranoid just watching out for my childrens safety. To play alone outside I would say 10 with at least coming in to give a check in every hour or so.

Answer 4

It all depends on where you live. I would get on-line and look in your area or neighborhood for registered sex offenders, just to be safe. The word "unattended" will probably get most people upset with you, but as long as you can see the child at all times (through a door or a window) it could work out for the best. It all, once again, depends on where you live. In the country. In the big city. High crime area. Low crime area. Trust your own instincts. I think that 4 or 5 is a good age, but I have a grandson (age 2) who likes to play outside. But I live in the Country and have no neighbors. I also have a guard dog that would alert to any trouble. I feel safe letting him outside alone, but I'm always looking out the window checking on him too.

Answer 5

Well i live in a very small town of 1450 people and i have lived here all my life and every one knows me, but i do not allow my 3 and 2 year old to play out front by themself unless i am out there with them(which is very rare that they do), but i allow both of them to go out into the fenced , gate locked back yard but only when i am where i can quit and stay around the back door (or i leave the back door half way open to let them come in and out when they need to ( we are in the middle of potty training, dont want accidents), but other than that i don't think they should be able to let them go out side totally alone until they are some where from 8-10 in my opinion but i have only been a mom for 3 and 1/2 years so i don't know when i will allow my kids to go out side by themselfs. Good luck on that

Answer 6

I think a child should really never be alone outside, even at 11 i think they should be where you can see them, my daughter is three and I do not allow her outside at all by herself as for my neighbor she has a five year old and she is always at my door asking if my daughter can come out I will go out with her but never let her go alone. I don't think people understand what can happen to there kids I believe that some parents just don't want to deal with there own kids and so they send them outside to play and that way they don't have to hear them. I wonder if they know what the parents that have had there kids taken way feel like. I mean everyone should think about this, how would you feel if you let your kids out and they never came back. When all you had to do was sit outside for about an hour or and let them play.

Answer 7

You can never be too careful. I have 3 kid's of my own, my eldest being almost 12 and if she or I are not out there my four year old is not allowed out. I would say when they become school aged as long as they always stay in sight of your house so when you look out the window or door they are visible. That is a rule in our house even with my almost 12 year old. Our kids safety is #1 priority. We also live in a subdivision, in a culdesac with all kinds of children. Those children most likely are busy playing and would not pay attention if another child could be in danger. Good luck, it's tough making these decisions. Where is the parent handbook when you need it?

Answer 8

9 or 10 yrs old. Any younger, and they have a very short memory for rules and reminders. Two yrs old is WAY too young. If I left my 2 yo out alone, he'd end up eating dirt or something... I wouldn't mind allowing my son to play at other kids' homes with their parents present, but I don't know any. Just tell your neighbor that you've seen things hapen to little kids and you feel more comfortable knowing exacty what yours is doing. Remember the little boy who suffocated in a car trunk a year ago? He and his buddies were playing hide and seek and they couldn't find him. So, instead of telling his mom or dad, they went home... He was 7!
As for child molesters and such, well, duh! ALWAYS know where your children are. If they aren't old enough to tell you, and remember what they told you, they're too young. Most kids don't learn to stay where their parents know to find them until about 10... Even if you leave them in the backyard to go check the washer, when you come back they'll probably be telling the mail carrier about his birthday party--in your NEIGHBOR'S drive way...

Answer 9

Probably at 10. Mine are 6 & 3 and I've let them go in the backyard but that is it. We even live on a military base, which you'd expect to be safe. But it isn't. About a year ago we had a kid get sexually molested by a teen-ager while he was playing at the playground. We've had a child stabbed with scissors while at the playground. A friend of mine found her 8 year old daughter at the park, tied to the jungle gym. The kids had tied her up and stolen her bike. Kids are mean and cannot be trusted. I trust my kids but I don't trust the other kids at all. Even in our own yard I've faced problems. I've overheard the neighbor kid tell my son he'll play hide and seek only if he pays him money. The same kid, who is 8, took my 3 yr. old and held him down a pile of freshly mowed grass. I found him holding his face in the grass while my son was struggling to get up. I was furious. There is no way in hell I'd let my kids just go out and play with zero supervision. They'd have to be at least 10 and even then we'll have to see.

Answer 10

my girls are 4 and 5, and i believe that they should not be able to play totally alone until they are in 3rd grade. But my neighbors are the same way. Next door boy crosses a busy street all the time by himself and he is 4. I will not let them all play out front. They have to play out back or they do not play. Here in Utah a 5 year old girl was abducted and killed by the neighbor, and it just goes to show that you can't trust everyone. I know i am a worried mom, but it is better safe than sorry.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206559,00.html?sPage=fnc.national/crime