How old to hang out in the park for an hour?

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

How old is "old enough" to hang out in a public park in a very safe neighborhood with a cell phone and younger sibling?

DS is 10, DD is 7. The park is about a block away from where I have a work meeting for an hour and I am trying to figure out if I really need to hire a sitter? I have started leaving him alone for an hour or two during the day at home and he is comfortable with that.

I'm thinking this is a little too young, but confess to being tempted given all of the circumstances.

[MusicianDad]

Do you think your kids are responsible enough to handle being in the park for an hour? There is really no single magic age. It's all relative to how much you think your kids can handle. With DD I would have no trouble with her being alone at the park with a 7 year old at age 10 for an hour.

Can he get the 7 year old safely from the park to the building where your meeting is if he feels uncomfortable about something?

[CarrieMF]

My kids have been going to the park by themselves for an hour or more since they were 5. As long as it was light out & wouldn't get dark I see no problem with it. You could phone them 5-10 minutes before your meeting ended & tell them it's time to come back.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

Do you think your kids are responsible enough to handle being in the park for an hour?

Yeah, I think they would both be fine. But then I keep hearing echoes of other threads here on MDC about how shocked people were at preteens alone in the park and whether that was worthy of a CPS call. So I guess I'm more worried about someone else reacting badly than my kids not being able to handle it and/or being safe. Is this the dark side of the village?

[MusicianDad]

I think it probably is the dark side of the villiage.

The thing is though, if you know your kids will be safe at the park for an hour, it's all that matters. A 10 year old and a 7 year old are perfectly capable of being responsible, and you know you can contact them at any point with the cell phone and they can contact you. It can be hard, but the important thing is to do what you feel is right and not what other people tell you is right. Because every kid is different.

[Katsmamajama]

I send my 9 (almost 10) year old DD to the park with a cell phone, and she checks in regularly, until sunset . Of course, the parks are within a block of our house, and if it wasn't for other houses in either direction, then I could visibly see them both. If you're comfortable with the area, and feel like they know what to do responsibly, and know how to get back to your place, that's okay.