Am I crazy, or is 7 too young to be ALONE in the Parks

[pixiefairy]

Would I let my particular 7 year old roam alone? Nope. Definitely not. When we were there in June...he wore a wrist band like his younger sibs with our info inside. I know him, and I know in a panic situation.....he'd be very emotional. Around my neighborhood...no problem. While we were there, paired with my 13 year old...I did let him go for short stints near by...but my teen had a cell phone with him and was easy to get a hold of. And we had a place to meet back at at a specific time.

 

[islandchick779]

Coming from a household with two different parenting beliefs, I KNOW neither of us would allow our 7 yr old to go off on his own at Disney.

My DH won't even allow our boys to play in the front yard unless one of us is outside watching them! (I know, completely ridiculous, right?!)

I however, let them play a couple doors down at their friends in the front yard because I can see them from a window, and I know their friends' mother is also watching from her window.

We were just having a conversation last night about how when I was my oldest's age, my parents allowed me to roam the neighborhood with my friends all day without even checking in with them. I just had to be home by dinner.

I do think times have changed from when we grew up (in the 80's) and I think there seem to be crazier people out there. We live in a nice neighborhood but still it seems insane to me to let my child ride his bike off our street!
I know DH is WAY overprotective, but then I dunno, maybe I am too.

On an side note, last year we had my DS's b-day party at our house and rented a jump castle for the back yard. At some point during the party, one of the parents took it upon themselves to steall all my credit card information and I had to cancel everything! This year we didn't allow him to invite all his friends from school, and only allowed the people we knew into our home.
That's just crazy!

 

[DVC Jen]

7 - way too young. 10 yr old - too young 13 yr old - questionable.

Teenagers - well if they are old enough to drive themselves to Disney - are a few years from being on their own at college they better be old enough and mature enough to handle themselves at a theme park without Mom and Dad holding their hands.

Not saying ya don't worry about those kids - Lord knows I do and I have a 20 and 15 yr old. But - if I felt they coudn't handle themselves at a Disney or any Theme Park without me being right there with them - then I havent done my job as their parent.

 

[WantToGoNow]

I have never been considered an over-protective parent. My kids play outside alone. My son rides his bike in the street and is allowed to venture 3 houses in each direction to friends houses - my daughter is only allowed in the yard. My kids use public restrooms and I do let my son go in/out alone as long as I am in eye sight of the door. My son is 7 and I would NEVER let him wander alone in a theme park. Forget the kidnapping, molesting, etc. he could trip and fall and hit his head on something, or have an asthma attack (as he did at a friends birthday sleepover last night) or have an allergic reaction and he would not be able to give anyone information to get himself help. I did take my oldest dd and her friend to Disney when they were 16 - yes, they went off on their owns and had a grand time.

 

[ahecht]

And if my cousin's mother had come with her to the swimming pool, there is no way she would have let her daughter jump off the diving board when she couldn't swim well enough to get to the side.

That is exactly why I posted in my original post that it is important to know your kids' limitations, and that not every kid would be okay on their own in every situation. If the kid couldn't swim well enough to get to the side, she should not have been left alone at the pool.

 

[MelanieC]

I can't imagine in this day and age letting a 7 year old run around. I can remember going around DL while my parents were riding other rides (sounds silly to me now - cuz my kids spend all the time at WDW with us for 2 weeks at a time and love it), but I might have been 12 ? Who knows I could have been younger or older not sure.

My daughter is 16 now, but in 2006 when she was 14 she took the bus from POP to MK and me and my son who had left earlier. She met us at our priority seating reservations we had. DH decided to stay back and do laundry and meet us later. Afterwards, she had such a sense of accomplishment.

We let her do this again in 2007, and we also let her and my son go back to the room from MK right before WISHES. They took a bus to POP. We had seen it once and DH and I wanted to do it again. She called us when she got there. We had a car, so we saw it and then took the monorail over to the TTC.

They were fine, and it really made her feel grown up and trusted.

This year her and I are going in March for a Cheer competition. I will feel really good about her knowing how to get around down there - all her friends will most likely not have the same confidence of knowing where to go.

Next year she will go down by herself for her senior trip.

 

[ppan77]

A seven yr old unsupervised at WDW is a pediphiles dream!!! Parents should be reported to DSS if that is suspected.

 

[swald91]

I think that Disney is a wonderful place-but it's still not your backyard. I can't say what an appropriate age to let the kids go it alone would be-as yes, each person knows their kids & maturity level. I have always been a firm believer that there is safety in numbers. We remind our kids of this often-but just b/c they may be 13, or in a group of 2 or 3 doesn't make it ok for them to roam the parks w/o an adult. Never a 7 yr old-sorry. Just read some of the behavior of grps of young tourists-they cut lines & tend to be rude. With no supervision these kids could cause problems-again not all of them do. Too many tragedies in the world to leave the possibility open. Just my opinion.

 

[deej696]

When I was a kid (early 90's) we visited every October for the Disney golf classic. When I was 12 and my brother was 8, my parents allowed us to start going to the parks without them. Most of the time we were with a couple other kids that were a couple years older than me as well. I guess a big difference was that the tournament would provide courtesy cars to shuttle you anywhere you wanted to go on property, so we weren't dealing with Disney transport, etc. We were lucky in that going to Disney for us was about like a kid going to the local mall. We knew it like the back of our hand, and we also knew how to take care of ourselves. Were my parents crazy? Maybe, maybe not, but we turned out ok

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

My boys are 11 and 8, and I only let them out of my sight for a few minutes at a time at Disney, but I am starting to ease up a bit. However, I would never presume to tell another parent how to handle this sort of thing. Every child is different. I know - my 2 boys are from different planets...

 

[nosy parker]

I agree with everything Ahecht has written.

It has become a ridiculously paranoid, overprotected world for today's kids. They are so much less 'street smart' than we were, and in my opinion it's because we never leave them alone to develop any critical thinking and problem solving skills. I remember so many times as a kid getting into 'situations' by myself or with friends and precisely because we were alone we had to figure things out ourselves. Nobody there to take care of it for us. Could things have turned bad - yes. Were some of those situtions dangerous - yes. But some of it was ridiculously fun too! That's how you learn. And I truly belive that this is the only way to develop your inner radar about 'bad' people. When you're exposed to situations that don't feel quite right you learn to listen to your instincts.

That's not to say that bad things never happen, they do. But goodness, if the risk of stranger abduction is so low, why all this insane paranoia? I agree that the media is to blame. You get into a car every day of your life and drive knowing that you risk getting into a deadly accident. Your child could suffer this fate every time you get in the car, yet you do it every day. You weigh the risks and the decide it's worth it, you don't stop driving. So why not let your kids roam free like we did. I really don't think it's any more dangerous today or that there are more 'crazies' out there.

We're breeding this into our kids. Giving them this ridiculous notion that there are pedophiles and abductors lurking around every corner just waiting to pounce. It's really quite sad.

I'm a woman but I know that for adult men this also has an impact. Many really great, kind, normal men I know would hesitate to engage a child in any manner simply for the fear of being looked at as a sicko. Whether that's to say 'hi' and make a silly face to a kid waiting in line somewhere, or unfortunately if a child was lost or needed help in some way. Imagine a man stopping to help a lost child and walking away with him to help him find his parents. Someone would think he is abducting the child.

And as Ahecht pointed out you do have to know your child and not put them in a dangerous situation. But you can't try to control everything so that you eliminate all possible bad events from happening. For one, you never will, and two you would lose so much of life's fun and freedoms this way. And that is the saddest thing of all.

 

[ShannonMB]

My DD just turned 8, and there is no way I would let her go out alone in the parks. Not even at this age with an older teen. I do let her play outside within a couple houses. She's very trust-worthy and wouldn't go in the street or break the rules of how far to go. I do think I do too much for her, and she's pretty dependent. Maybe it's because she's an only child. If I had any more, I couldn't keep the magnifying glass on her as well because I'd be too busy. My DH is always challenging her ability to do things on her own (going to another aisle in the grocery store for a second to grab something, etc), and I do think it's great to start to foster that independence. I'm just a nervous mommy, because the stakes are so high. If something ever happened to her that I could have prevented, I could NOT live with myself, and my life would be ruined forever.

I like to think that when she's 14 or 15, we could take a friend to the World with us and let them go off alone. That would be SO much fun at that age, and relatively safe. We'll see how I feel about it when she's that age. Boy, do I LOVE that girl!!! Regardless of our parenting styles, that's one thing we all have in common, huh!

 

[mjkacmom]

This is as far as I got before I felt the need to respond.

I wonder how many of those small children were sexually molested (like myself) or raped by a stranger while they were out roaming the neighborhood? I was 7 ... at the playground across the street from my house.

Just because the child isn't actually abducted doesn't mean something horrible isn't happening to them while they're roaming free. I'm not taking that chance, sorry.

Children are way more likely to be molested by friends and family, than random strangers while they're out and about. Do you not let them to to friends' homes? Sleep at grandma's? Go to boyscouts?

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

That is insane, I can't even imagine allowing my 12 yr. old alone in the park. I'll let her go off on a ride alone, but I am physically in the park near by.

 

[pxydst]

It turns my stomach to think a parent/adult would let a child roam free in a park by him/herself. If I see a child by himself I will call the police and they will call child protective services and we will see if it is all right for them to wonder around by themselves!! I am sorry if you do not agree with me, but you asked!! And my husband is a police officer and he see's what strangers can and will do to children!!! Please, I know you want to be your childs friend but it is your job to be a parent/adult FIRST!!! They have enough friends!! OK, off my soapbox! Have a wonderful day!

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm a product of the 50's/60's. I ran free all day long during the warmer months. We all did. Never a problem...well, pretty much not a problem. I have 3 kids...35, 32, 15. The two older kids had a bit more freedom than the 15 y/o...basically because of where they lived at the time...closer to town and school, sidewalks, etc. Just before youngest was born, we moved about 3 miles out of the town center, busy road, no sidewalks, and no true 'neighborhood'. Our present house is actually equidistant between my house growing up and my dh's teenaged years home.
You just don't see kids outside playing anymore. And yes, it is sad. But, I have to say that with the way people drive on our road, there is not way my dd was riding her bike on it, or walking along it for 1/4 mile to see a friend..way too many accidents.
Today, the towns have grown so large, that you are lucky if one neighbor knows your kids. In my childhood, you knew someone in at least every other house. If you had a problem, you could go to any house and know there was help waiting. Not so today. People peek out from behind their curtains and never answer the door...not sure why, but that's the way it is.

Is today any more dangerous than it was 20 years ago?? I don't know. Maybe. Perhaps there are those who hear these horror stories on the news and decide that sounds like fun. But that has to be a small number.

But...there is no way I am turning a child under 10, loose in WDW. My dd has been going to WDW since she turned 6. She has been about 15 times..she is now 15. She knows her way around so well that she could probably give tours. When she turned 13, we traveled to WDW with another mom and her dd, who also was turning 13. The girls were allowed to head out on their own...my dd knew the park layouts incredibly well, so I wasn't concerned.
But, if you turned a much younger child loose in a park, they could get turned around, discombobulated and scared. Sure, I can see sitting on a bench while your youngster rides a few rides in that general vicinity..but allow them to be on their own for hours on end?? Nope. While I realize that child abduction and molestation can happen anywhere (and does), I do realize that WDW is a magnet for those looking for young children. Whether or not they decide to act on their impulses is not a chance I'm going to take (well, wouldn't have taken since dd is older now).
I don't allow my dd to go into someone's home that she doesn't know either, or to walk around a mall by herself at night..in a group or stay at home.

Yes, I understand that kids need to learn discerning skills, that they need to learn how to make good choices and judgement calls. But, you don't dump them in the deep end and say 'swim'. Baby steps. Life today is way too fast..kids need more time to digest what they are hearing and seeing. Others are out of control, seeming to think that bad behaviour is okay...so, put a group of those kids up against a group of untested teenagers and you have a recipe for disaster. Trial by fire isn't a great tool as a teen.

Teens on their own at WDW? Sure, as long as they can find their way around and aren't going to be getting lost. Kids under 10? Nope, don't think so. But, then again, our parents didn't turn us loose at the fairs that used to come to town every spring....those carnival workers were sketchy..to use a word my dd uses. Not so different than today...just a bigger arena now.

 

[Lcaemom]

I too, completely disagree with a 7yo, 8yo, 9yo...and even older KIDS being allowed to roam around in MK or any other park. But, I think the OP posted this because it is posted somewhere on Disney property or on literature somewhere at WDW that children under 7 must be accompanied by an adult. I remember seeing that, when we were just there and thinking "WHAT?!?" That is just crazy...that someone could see that and potentially consider letting a child as young as seven alone in the parks.

 

[Nikisha421]

i guess to each his own...and judging will not make a parent better or worse...i know for sure i thought i was a risky mom taking my 5yoDD on a roller coaster...WOW that was a big deal for me.

on the other hand, as a middle school teacher i see a lot of crazy stuff like this happen all of the time...7th and 8th graders who come to school two hrs late bc they had to take a younger brother or sister to school...2nd and 3rd graders walking home alone...4th graders getting on the public bus...but never forget everyone has the right to raise their child in the manner they see if!!!!IMHO
...therfore, if someone is safe with that then fine...i just know for me i wouldn't be...

and never forget that different cultures look at different situations in different manners....i remember a few years back in NY a woman was in the city eating dinner and left her very young baby in the stroller outside of the restaurant...someone called CPS/DSS and she was arrested by the NYPD...but she was European and come to find out that was the normal thing to do in whatever European country she was from...so Disney posting that is only IMHO away of telling people really this is not the safest place to leave a kid alone.

 

[ColeyB]

There is no way I would let my 7 or 10 year old go off on their own. I am super paranoid about things like that. It's unbelievable what some parents will let happen!

 

[Trixie15]

Children are way more likely to be molested by friends and family, than random strangers while they're out and about. Do you not let them to to friends' homes? Sleep at grandma's? Go to boyscouts?

Sorry, I would never let my kids be boyscouts. No way. We're not Catholic but I'd never let them be alter boys, either.

I let my kids go to friends' homes and play outside. Never inside unless I know who is home and never if there is a man or teenaged boy at home.

They sleep at Grandma's if I am there with them.

Surprisingly, though, I am not a helicopter parent. My kids can play outside without me and they are allowed to be on the sidewalks up and down our block. They use the public restrooms without me (they go together, not alone) and they walk to school together.

Like someone else said - I'm not going to put my kids in a situation that they can't handle, and while it is true that they are more likely to be molested by someone they know, I had the unfortunate experience of being molested by a perfect stranger, a policeman none the less. So that has colored my view of the world.

My children do not suffer at all - their friends come here to play as often as they want. But I'm not about to let them wander around at this point. I'd rather not have my kids learn about bad people by having something bad happen to them that will affect them for the rest of their lives, no thanks. I'll continue to teach them, let them know when I get a bad feeling about someone and let them know why. Eventually they will pick up on it themselves.

But it's just my opinion that they really don't need to experience being molested themselves in order to learn how to avoid it in the future. That is just crazy.