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Oct 7, 2024 7:18:29 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2022 15:44:35 GMT
Watching a series on Netflix called Old Enough, a Japanese show where camera crews follow children going on errands by themselves. Cute show, but was shocked that the first episode featured a 2 year old going to the store alone!
I remember being close to 4 when I was allowed to play in front of our house by myself, but I think it wasn’t until I was 6 when I went to a store that was several blocks away. When were you “old enough” to go on errands by yourself?
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lesley
Drama Llama
My best friend Turriff, desperately missed.
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Jul 6, 2014 21:50:44 GMT
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Post by lesley on Apr 6, 2022 15:50:02 GMT
I was probably about 4. There was a shop just around the corner and I didn’t need to cross any roads. I remember being sent round to get cigarettes for my mum and dad! 😱 I started school not long after my 5th birthday, and I walked to school on my own every day. Again, there were no roads to cross and it was only about 500m away. There was a path through dense woodland though, and an unfenced drop to a steep gully with a stream at the bottom. All these years later, the gully has been blocked off by a tall fence! 😄
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Just T
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Jun 26, 2014 1:20:09 GMT
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Post by Just T on Apr 6, 2022 15:53:09 GMT
Well, I am old, so I don't remember exactly. But I do remember walking to kindergarten every day by myself. I don't know how old I was when I was sent to the store, but I do remember my dad giving me money to go to buy him cigarettes when I was in elementary school.
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Post by katlady on Apr 6, 2022 15:54:44 GMT
My mom never sent me on errands as a kid. There was no place within a half mile for me to go do an errand. But, we did play outside without adult supervision starting when I was about 5. We played with the older kids, and we roamed around the entire block. Probably by 8, I was going to the liquor store a few blocks away to buy candy.
I do see those Japanese videos of kids by themselves. It is such a different country. I have seen kids that looked about 6-8 on subways by themselves. I never rode public transit by myself until I went to Junior High.
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Post by littlemama on Apr 6, 2022 15:56:32 GMT
We could walk to the party store -we lived on a main road and the store was on a main road kitty corner from where we lived- when we were maybe 10-12, but not alone. Around that time, an arcade was added to the strip mall with the party store, so it was more common for kids to be allowed to walk up therr.
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johnnysmom
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Jun 25, 2014 21:16:33 GMT
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Post by johnnysmom on Apr 6, 2022 15:58:28 GMT
I was probably 7 or 8 but we had to cross a pretty busy street to get to the carry out. Fwiw ds was probably 8 or 9 before I’d let him ride his bike around the block with a friend, and each time they passed the house they had to stop or stop least wave at me so I knew they were alive 🤣
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Post by epeanymous on Apr 6, 2022 16:01:36 GMT
I don’t know about errands. I do know that I started walking to school by myself in kindergarten.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Apr 6, 2022 16:05:33 GMT
At five and six I was allowed to walk around my neighborhood, within the perimeter of certain set streets (none of which were busy). I could go to the corner store and the deli then.
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Post by myshelly on Apr 6, 2022 16:14:54 GMT
I never went on any errands myself until I had my own car at 16.
I didn’t grow up in a very walkable city.
My kids have never run errands or walked to the store or anything like that.
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Post by ~summer~ on Apr 6, 2022 16:19:38 GMT
I walked to school by myself by like 2nd grade. By 5th grade I was taking the city bus to everywhere I wanted to go. By 7th grade I’d take Bart to SF with friends and we also took city bus to school. By 7th grade my brother was skateboarding all over the city with friends.
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Post by mayceesgranny on Apr 6, 2022 16:26:48 GMT
Oh how things have changed since I was a kid ( said in my best granny voice). I believe we were allowed to walk to the grocery store at around age 7 or 8. It was approx. 6 or 7 blocks away in a small town.
My children walked a couple blocks to school at age 5 or 6 - I could watch them from my house. They were allowed to walk 6 blocks to the library when they were approx. 7 or 8. I can't recall sending them to the store alone until they were a little older ( 10?). We were fortunate to live in a community where neighbors watched out for each other.
I have one 9 year old grandchild that walks 5 blocks to school, the rest ride a bus or get dropped off. I don't think any of them run errands or go the store alone. I think its very uncommon for elementary school kids to go any where alone any more.
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Post by Basket1lady on Apr 6, 2022 16:32:16 GMT
I grew up in the country, so we never walked to the store. I probably biked there (3 miles) at about 10. It was just a two lane road without real shoulders.
Someone attempted to kidnap me when I was about 8 years old. I remember it clearly, but never thought much about it until I had my own kids. A TSA agent tried to take infant DS in his stroller through the metal detector (this was 1997) and I grabbed the stroller and yelled quite loudly, "That's my baby!" I though someone was trying to take him and reacted before I saw who it was. My own kids were in middle school before they walked anywhere alone!
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Post by Susie_Homemaker on Apr 6, 2022 16:32:24 GMT
I rode my bike to school and also to the 7-11 convenience store when I was about 7. It was through our neighborhood and then onto a main road for just a short bit.
My kids never had the opportunity to do that. We never lived close enough to anything that they could walk or ride to. I did let them by free-range neighborhood roamers from about 6 on.
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Post by greendragonlady on Apr 6, 2022 16:37:46 GMT
I was probably 6 when my brother (8) and I would walk to the convenience store down the hill (about 1/2 mile).
I wouldn't allow kids that age to go alone these days.
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Post by MichyM on Apr 6, 2022 16:44:16 GMT
As a city dweller, it's so foreign to me that some pea children have never walked to the store/school/friends house on their own. When I was in first grade my (3 years older) sister and I walked to school, maybe 2/3rds of a mile away. I do remember many afternoons when she had something else going on and I would walk home alone, or partway with friends and the rest of the way alone. At other times, my mom would also give us a little $$$, maybe a dime or a quarter each, and send us a 1/2 mile + in the opposite direction to the drugstore so we could buy candy. That would get us out of her hair for a while. Win-win The neighbor kids and I would run around several blocks for hours on end. Just needed to be sure to be home before it got fully dark out. At one point there was a house torn down and rebuilt on our block. We had SO much fun running around that thing.
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Post by papersilly on Apr 6, 2022 16:46:30 GMT
i was around 8 or 9 (this was in the 70's) when my mom would send me and my brother to the corner store to buy stuff. it wasn't really right at the corner but a bit of a trek for 8 and 9 year olds. it always went well until a 16 year old girl decided to follow us and rob us of the change we got back from the store. she got caught.
i remember being 13 or 14 when my mom used to send me to the liquor store to buy her cigarettes. she would write a note to the cashier and they would sell me a pack. i didn't have to do it much because she was a occasional smoker so one pack would last for a long time. i think she only smoked for a year or two. weird that she was too embarassed to buy cigarettes but had no problem sending a kid in there to buy a pack. LOL
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anniebeth24
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,716
Jun 26, 2014 14:12:17 GMT
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Post by anniebeth24 on Apr 6, 2022 16:46:59 GMT
I grew up in an area I guess you could call a rural subdivision - dirt roads and no sidewalks. Closest shop was at least 3 miles by way of 2-lane, 45 MPH curvy roads, again with no sidewalks. Not friendly for bikes or pedestrians.
Didn't go by myself until I had a driver's license.
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Post by monklady123 on Apr 6, 2022 16:47:27 GMT
I don't remember specifically before age 5, but I know at 5 I walked about five blocks by myself to school. There were other kids walking and I probably walked with neighbors but no adults were around. And I went out the door by myself with no specific expectations of meeting up with anyone, it's just that we were going in the same direction. And I also remember that kids did the crossing guard duties. At our elementary schools now the 5th graders are safety patrols but they don't actually cross anyone. Their job is just to supervise kids who are waiting at the corner for the adult crossing guard to tell them it's okay to cross. Back when I was walking to elementary school there were no adult crossing guards, at least not on my route.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Apr 6, 2022 16:53:41 GMT
I was in grade school in the 60s and remember walking to/from school by myself in the first grade. It seemed like a long way, but I just checked a map and it was 3 blocks. Our backyard was fenced and I don't remember playing out front very much. There was a small neighborhood store 2 blocks away and I remember being sent to get a couple of items for mom, probably about 2nd grade.
In 4th grade we lived in a larger town and I remember being allowed to ride my bike with friends to the nearby shopping center. It was 1 mile away and involved crossing a 4 lane street. Times have really changed!
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maryannscraps
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Aug 28, 2017 12:51:28 GMT
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Post by maryannscraps on Apr 6, 2022 16:53:45 GMT
I walked to school starting in kindergarten. I roamed the neighborhood and played back in the open space building forts and investigating ponds and creeks when I was very young without supervision. By the time I was 10, I had been going to the corner store with my friends for treats. I probably took a public bus into the city to go shopping with my friends by age 12 (my mom had to drive me to the bus stop which was a couple miles away.) My mom didn't ask me to run errands for her until I could drive.
I let my kids walk to the corner store unsupervised by age 9-10. I used to drop my son at the train station to go into Boston for his music lessons and music summer camps when he was around 13. He drove himself once he got his license. Shoot, I sent him on a plane to go visit a bunch of colleges when he was a junior. He traveled all over the country by himself.
I just never worried about my kids doing things on their own -- they are exceedingly independent.
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iluvpink
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Jul 13, 2014 12:40:31 GMT
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Post by iluvpink on Apr 6, 2022 16:55:47 GMT
My parents were super strict.
Well I should say my dad and stepmom were. I lived with them from age six on. I was a teenager before I was allowed to do anything by myself. We lived out in the country so there was no going to stores by ourselves. You needed a car to get anywhere. The only place they dropped us off and left was at friend's houses and dance lessons. And I got a talking to when I was I think 13-14 because my cousin and I left the dance studio in between classes and went for a walk down the main street of the town. It was a pretty small rural town and very safe! We also had a line painted on our paved driveway and couldn't ride our bikes past that line until around 12-13. This was on a dirt road with few houses and very little traffic.
My bio mom wasn't so strict. I only was with her some weekends/holidays/summer etc. But by around 10-11 I could go off in a store by myself, walk to the corner store etc.
ETA in kindergarten I still lived with my mom. The school was a block away in what was then still a pretty safe area. After the first few days I walked to school and back with other neighborhood kids. My dad and stepmom were not happy about that.
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Kerri W
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Jun 25, 2014 20:31:44 GMT
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Post by Kerri W on Apr 6, 2022 16:58:40 GMT
I grew up in the country. My dad bought me a pony when I was 4 and I rode him all over the countryside, realistically probably within 2-3 miles of our house, all day long by myself. Maybe not at 4 but definitely by the time I was in school. I rode around country blocks pretending I was on some grand adventure. I rode through one particular neighbor's fields along the irrigation tracks-and had a great time playing in the irrigation when it was hot in the summer! (with the neighbor's permission to be on his property) I remember them saddling him up in the morning and I was off and on all day doing something with my Cocoa pony. Bittersweet aside, my dad has Alzheimer's. I went to see him recently and was asking him questions about our different horses etc. I asked him about my Cocoa pony and he said "sis that's probably the best thing I ever did for you. That old pony was your best friend for a really long time. He taught you a lot about life." He couldn't have been more right. I haven't seen the show but it sounds interesting. I'm going to look it up!
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Post by scrapmaven on Apr 6, 2022 16:59:58 GMT
When I was young I lived in a supposedly, very safe community. The one time I walked alone it led to a major traumatic event. No community is safe. After that, walking alone was not an option. As a result of my experience my kids weren't allowed to walk anywhere alone until they were teenagers. I was very overprotective and terrified of predators.
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Loydene
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Jul 8, 2014 16:31:47 GMT
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Post by Loydene on Apr 6, 2022 17:02:45 GMT
At around 10, I took my sister and 2 cousins, to "downtown" on a City bus, to see "101 Dalmations". They would have been 8, 7 and 6ish. Our Grandmother let us do this - I don't know if our Mothers would have!
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Post by elaine on Apr 6, 2022 17:07:46 GMT
I used to walk to kindergarten when I was 5 with my sister who was 7.
We then moved to someplace that walking to places wasn’t an option. When I was 9 we moved again and then I rode my bike everywhere - to the store, to school, and often went to the movies by myself. I started renting a pony at that age and would ride my bike, ride and take care of pony, and then ride home by myself. We bought a horse when I was 10 and it was the same deal until we sold her when I was 12.
Life was different then.
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sueg
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Apr 12, 2016 12:51:01 GMT
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Post by sueg on Apr 6, 2022 17:11:15 GMT
I don't remember how old I was when I was allowed to walk to the corner store by myself, but it was in a town where we lived from when I was 7 until I was 12, so in that range. I walked home from school from kindergarten, but not alone - there were a large group of us, of various ages, that lived in the same neighbourhood, and we all walked home together - the oldest were a couple of 7th grade girls in my first year!
Here in Germany, it is really common for children to be walking alone to and from school by the end of 1st grade. 5th graders will be catching public transport alone to and from school.
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joelise
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Jul 1, 2014 6:33:14 GMT
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Post by joelise on Apr 6, 2022 17:12:32 GMT
I was usually with my sister who was 3 years older than me but I definitely have memories of going to the shops alone when I was 4.
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Post by papersilly on Apr 6, 2022 17:16:54 GMT
i am reading about everyone who walked to school by themselves. i did too. my parents NEVER walked me to school or the bus stop where i had to catch the school bus at 7:00 a.m. in junior high and high school. i started walking in kindergarten and walked from then on. times sure have changed. walking to school was some of the funnest times i remember. walking with friends. getting slurpees after school at 7-11 and general goofing around until we reached our own homes.
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The Great Carpezio
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Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Apr 6, 2022 17:28:21 GMT
I remember at four, being at a friend's house, and dressing up in play clothes and walking down to a store a couple blocks away. (I think I remember it was called Shep's.) This would have been about 1976.
As far as my own family, we had freedom in our neighborhood at about six, but I don't remember going off to stores or other neighborhoods until I was about nine but my brother would have been seven.
My husband was going off to stores and riding a ride on toy down a highway with his older brothers (1 and 2.5 years older than him) when he was a toddler. (very early 70s he was born in 68)
My kids started playing in the front yard and the direct neighbor's yards at 6/7. They started riding their bikes around the neighborhood on their own around ten/eleven. They still haven't gone to a store from our house on their own (have to ride their bikes on a highway/major road) but from friend's homes and have been dropped off at the mall/other places starting about a year and a half ago (they are 14 now, so 12.5/13).
I always walked to school. My kids have never. Bus or driven. Again, they would have to walk along a busy road or highway.
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Post by padresfan619 on Apr 6, 2022 17:32:33 GMT
Not until I started working my first job at 16. It was over a mile all uphill to the closest store where I grew up, and I’d have to walk along a very busy street without crosswalks. Not pedestrian friendly at all.
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