What age can they go about on their own?

Here's a question for you: at what age will your kids be allowed to go about on their own?


This was a topic of discussion in our office recently. My wife was riding her bike around and walking to school with her sisters and brother (but no parent) in downtown Bangkok when she was six. One of our secretaries was going about on her own where she grew up in Poland and our other secretary did the same here in Toronto, both at about age six. I grew up in North Vancouver, Canada, and was walking or riding my bike to school, a little over a kilometre away, by the same age.


I have been told now, though, that we must not allow our son to ever be unaccompanied until he is at least ten years old. That seems ludicrous to me; I couldn't imagine those childhood years without the freedom to explore the neighbourhood - or a bit farther afield - by bicycle. We knew very well to watch out for cars, to not take candy or rides from strangers, and all the other little things to be aware of growing up in a city.


Are we just being terribly irresponsible parents in wanting our son to have learning experiences as good as ours?

I think it depends on where you live. I was allowed to roam unsupervised in the small wooded area behind our house when I was 7 or so. However if you live in a big city it might be different. It also depends on how safe the place is. In a place like HK, I would feel that my kids are safer alone than in, say, New York.

Definitely would depend on the location, though I daresay downtown Bangkok thirty-five years ago still probably had more hazards than a lot of cities today. My wife actually just clarified that her parents drove her to school because her school was quite a long way, too far to walk. But she was able to ride her bike around the neighbourhood and her mom would send her to the store one her own.


When I was in grade 1 (six years old), my mom went back to work as a nurse part time. On the two days a week she was at work, when I got home from school I would get the key from under the doormat and open the door, get myself a snack and play or watch tv until she arrived a couple hours later. At the time, this was not at all unusual.


My friends and I would ride our bikes far and wide. Granted, when you're seven or eight years old, living in a very hilly place like North Vancouver, "far and wide" only meant about two or three kilometres from home at most. Still, the prevailing attitude her (in Canada) today seems to say that to allow that is totally irresponsible.


I was only in HK for one day a few years ago, but it did strike me as a fairly safe, well-organised city. (I also thought it was very clean and pollution-free. Of course, I arrived there directly from Bangkok...)

My friend's son has gone to school on his own since he was 8 and my son since he was 10.

one of my younger cousin went to school (two mtr stations away) on his own since he was 9.

I have a question though....do you guys agree that girls are slightly more responsible then boys who are more at an exploring / daring side????

it definately depends on where you live. Theres not a huge amount of places where we live here that the kids can go on their own, maybe to call on a friends house down the road, or to play on their own down the road. They've done that from 6. But to use public transport I only let the older 2 once they started secondary school, and then only straight home from school. But gradually as they got older they learnt new routes, and by 13 went to many places. But to leave them at 6 on their own is too young, if I left my 6 year old,even to get a drink it would mean her climbing on to a unit to reach the cups, what if she fell? I don;t even like leaving my 14 year old too long on his own.