LIFESTYLE | parenting Womanthismonth.com 84 February 2024 Here’s what you need to consider: Sending your child out by themselves can be a scary time for parents. Woman This Month’s Parenting Columnist, Ouiam El Hassani, shares her thoughts on when it is ideal to allow kids to go out by themselves. What should you consider before allowing them to go out on their own? First, you should consider the maturity level of your child. You know how far along they are in overall maturity and whether this is something they can handle. If not, it may be something you need to introduce later on. However, if you think your child might be ready to take this step, then move forward with setting rules. Another important factor to consider before allowing your child to go out alone is the overall safety of where they’ll be going. Make sure you know who they’ll be spending time with, including friends and parents. But sometimes, that isn’t enough to consider. If you’re unsure how your child will handle this new independence, it may be best to ease them into it. There’s nothing wrong with doing this process slowly and ensuring that your child is ready before fully committing. Let this be a time that they prove to you they can handle the added responsibility of going out alone while maintaining contact and respecting curfew. What rules should I set for my child? The best way to ensure your child’s safety and your own peace of mind is to set some firm rules for them. Doing this can ensure that they’re safe, where they’re supposed to be, and, most importantly, come home at the end of the day. Phone Now is a great time to consider getting your child a phone of their own if they don’t already have one. They can use it only when they’re out of the house alone to keep in touch with you. What you have them do with it at other times is up to you. We love our kids and just want them to be safe. So, naturally, it can be difficult to decide what age is appropriate for our kids to be allowed to go out by themselves. It’s important for us to understand that allowing our children go out alone can help prepare them for adulthood. Someday our kids will turn 18 and will head to college or look for a job all too soon. So, the best way to ensure they’re prepared and confident to step out into the world is to allow them to be somewhat independent as teens. There are a couple of very important questions you need to ask yourself, as you prepare them to go out on their own: Curfew Another good rule to set is to plan for a curfew. You should set a time that makes sense for your child and their schedule. Curfews don’t have to be concrete times that your child must be home. Feel free to give them a window of time to show up before you start getting worried. You can also consider setting a time to leave rather than a time to be home. Then, wherever your child is, they won’t feel the need to rush home. They just need to be on their way by a certain time. “Stay Safe!”
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