I think it was introduced by degrees and my parents got it pretty much right. Until the age of six, I didn't go more than about 400 yards from the house on my own but I could do it unsupervised (usually with the kids from next door). At eight, it was about a mile, and I started walking home from school on my own. At ten, I'd learned to ride a bike (yeah, I know... I may be driving before I'm 100) and from then I was pretty much unsupervised from the moment I got home from school until I came in for tea, and then from when I'd eaten tea until I came in because it was dark. Best time of my life! I know kids need to be safe but we need to feed their urge to explore and to learn too.
As a child, how much of the time were you left unsupervised?
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I think it was introduced by degrees and my parents got it pretty much right. Until the age of six, I didn't go more than about 400 yards from the house on my own but I could do it unsupervised (usually with the kids from next door). At eight, it was about a mile, and I started walking home from school on my own. At ten, I'd learned to ride a bike (yeah, I know... I may be driving before I'm 100) and from then I was pretty much unsupervised from the moment I got home from school until I came in for tea, and then from when I'd eaten tea until I came in because it was dark. Best time of my life! I know kids need to be safe but we need to feed their urge to explore and to learn too.