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September 12

should a 5 yr old be allowed/able to play outside by themselves?

The Reference Desk does not answer requests for opinions.

Is is ok for a mom to stay inside the house while her 5 yr old is outside (out of her view)playing? I know someone who does this and normally the child stays close by, but recently that 5 yr old keeps wondering off farther and farther. So I guess my question is a two part one. 1) should this mom continue to allow her child to play outside unsupervised? 2) and if she does, how to teach that child to stay nearby and not wonder off? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.11.247.156 (talk) 14:22, 12 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I agree, we can't answer this question because it is a request for opinion, but if the original poster is interested in researching the subject themselves "unsupervised play" is a good phrase to search for. You'll find a lot of people arguing about it without really getting anywhere in discussion groups, but it also comes up in magazines, books and scholarly publications. 209.131.76.183 (talk) 19:46, 12 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Note that it's "wandering off", not "wondering off". StuRat (talk) 20:48, 12 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

...and it obviously varies hugely between cultures, countries, and the degree of shared trust and responsibilty that exists within the neighbourhood. Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:51, 12 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]