I am personally an over protective mom, but I am also a mom who strongly believes that other mom’s have a right to make their own judgement calls free of judgement from me. Would I let my kid walk home at 7? No. Is it CPS/DYFS worthy? No. He will probably be fine. In fact he might be a better adjusted individual than my daughter as a result of the freedom he is given.
Probably never, as the old country road to her school isn’t safe or suitable for walking (no footpath). If the school were a reasonable distance away, and a safe road, I would consider it aged 12+. I would drive them as long as they wanted, though, dropping and collecting them would be my ideal option but sadly I can’t seem them wanting their mum to drop them to school when they’re 14-15 years old 
I walked myself to school as soon as I was in grade 1 because both my parents worked and the elementary and middle schools were only four blocks from my house. I never felt nervous about it but then again I played in the woods by my self so walking down a street passing other children seemed like no big deal.
I walked home from School when I was about 7, but it was always with my brother, who was 11 at the time, and was in secondary school. I started walking home by myself when I would have been about 10, but I was always told to go the long way and cross with the crossing lady as there was no crossing lady at the point where you would cross if you went the shorter route.
allowed twitch
I think that is absolutely fine. I walked (15 min walk) home from school alone or with friends from aged 6.
Kids will learn the road rules when they know they have to. If there is always someone with them/looking out for them they will just stay reliant for longer.
@namernz, I disagree that kids will learn the road rules if they have to. A seven year old may have the ability to learn to look both ways, etc…but they don’t have the brain function to focus on traffic coming in a number of different directions, nor the self control to keep following the rules if temptation calls. And many 7 year olds might be able to learn stranger danger basics, but aren’t going to have the mental capacities to distinguish acquaintances from friends or the logic to put what they’ve learned from lectures into real life if a predator says “I can’t hear you, come closer” or “can you help me find my lost dog?”.
Lots of kids who are killed by cars are killed on streets they’ve played on every day for years.
I never had to walk to school I lived in the country and had a bus to my gate. We walked down the driveway from when I was eight and my sister was five. When I was in year 6 and 7 my two younger siblings and the children who were school aged at my mums daycare (aged about 5 and 6) would walk back with me and my 10 year old sister as the supervisors. Then again this was a driveway and when there were cars we just moved across.
Kids aren’t stupid unless you teach them to be.
Incorrect. Kids are stupid until you teach them to be otherwise. They are natural learners yes, but the ability to learn doesn’t mean they’ll learn wise practices.
I’d recommend watching some Bill Cosby.
it’s common practice in Finland for children to walk to and from school from age 7 when they start primary. Because of the staggered starting and finishing times parents cannot always pick up and drop off kids (my son starts at 10am one day and finishes between 12-2.15pm). My son hasn’t started yet as I have to take his siblings to nursery, so I’m driving around anyway, but we’re going to have his father or grandmother take him on the bus/walking route soon as I’m due to have the baby soon and my mum may need to take him to school, so it would be a good chance for him to learn it.
He’s not ready to do it on his own yet, but some children are and it’s up to the parents to decide if the child is ready, if the route is safe, etc.
My personal experience:
I was allowed to walk to school/back from school if my sister was ill so my mum could look after her. Only 1km and traffic lights at the busy roads. I walked 1.9 miles to school with peers at age 11/12 but I was terrified to do it alone. Now I walk to school myself [1 mile] and am aged 15. I think that a child should start walking to school when they move to secondary school or the end of Primary if the school is near.
Hmm, well: I never walked to or from school because it was much too far; I tried one time when I was about 11 and ended up stopping at a friend’s house to call my mom to come pick me up because I was tired.
I can understand that seeing a 7-year old walking home alone freaked you out. But at the same time I think we are often too sheltering on kids these days.
My sister has a friend with a 6-year old and a 4-year old and I often see one or both of them out riding their bikes on the main road of our city. Or they’ll ride their bikes to the parks nearby. Sometimes she’s with them, but most of the time she lets them wander on their own.
And while it usually sets my heart beating faster at the thought of something bad happening to them, I also admire her parenting style in that.
I remember being a kid and being allowed to wander the neighborhood. My mom would simply yell from the back porch when it was time to come home and my sister and I would run home together. I was maybe 5 then. My 4 1/2 year old niece would never be allowed to be outside on her own to play. [name_u]Ever[/name_u]. And while I understand that we’re all much more aware of potential dangers now, it also makes me sad. Cause at age 5 I was roaming the neighborhood with all the kids nearby, aged 5-12, and we would build clubhouses and play wildly imaginative games and make up intense tracks to race our bikes together. And my niece…can be supervised by an adult while she plays at the playground. I just sometimes feel like, are we, in the name of safety, smothering our kids these days?
In my undergrad I had a professor who really liked the book Freakonomics, and he often referenced how media makes us overestimate danger; For example, one summer shark attacks were widely reported and there was a noticeable decline in vacations to beach areas…but the actual number of shark attacks was actually lower than usual; it was just that we don’t usually hear about shark attacks, so it seemed higher. Are abductions the same? [name_m]Aren[/name_m]'t kids safer than they’ve ever been? But we’re more worried about abductions now than we were twenty-five or fifty years ago.
I honestly don’t know. I really want my kids, when I have them, to have the type of childhood I did. I want them to be able to roam the neighborhood in packs, getting into mischief. I don’t want to coddle them and make them afraid of leaving the house alone. And I also want them to be safe.
The [name_u]Free[/name_u] [name_m]Range[/name_m] Kids book looks interesting, I’m going to have to check it out.
Ultimately, here’s my opinion: the mom of that 7-year old has to do what she feels is right for her kid. At 7 he can understand that the street is busy. If she’s allowing him to be alone, you should assume she’s worked extensively to teach him traffic safety and stranger danger. [name_m]Just[/name_m] trust that she is doing what she feels is best for her kid and try to be supportive of that; and if you have a strong reaction against that, take that into account when you have your own kids and use it to shape how you will parent. [name_m]Just[/name_m] don’t assume that she’s being a bad mother or somehow negligent because she’s doing something different than what you would do in that situation. And know you’re a good friend and neighbor by keeping an eye out on her kid.
I think this is one of the differences between raising children now and 50 years ago. Back then everyone kept an eye on children playing in the neighborhood and there were a lot more children playing outside.
When I take a look at my own neighborhood there are always children outside and also other people keeping an eye on them. If I were the parent of one of them stranger danger would not be my main concern. Cars however would be.
People seem to underestimate children a lot. I think they are capable of a lot more than we keep them credit for.
In regards to letting your kids play outside by themselves, I remember reading an article about that here: Leave your kids at the park day: Why letting kids play on their own is a good idea.
And this fantastic response to said article:
Leave your kid at the park day is a rotten idea and should be abolished.
Not a mom, but I walked home myself since I was eight (3rd grade).
Someone’s already pointed this out, I made a grammar error I apologise.
i was around 7 when I started going alone. I didn’t have to cross any roads though. I think it would be fine during those circumstances.
But I would not let [name_u]Parker[/name_u] walk alone at that age if she had to cross a big road. i’d wait until she was maybe 9-10 then.