How late do you let your children stay outside at night ?

United States
July 26, 2009 9:10am CST
Hi Mylotters. Being that it is summer I see alot of the other parents in the nieghborhhod, including myself, have allowed their children to stay outside longer at night. During the school year I allow my 14,15,16 yr old to stay out until 9pm. Then summer, 10pm. Sometimes I see children around 7,8 out till all hours of the night. One little girl,7, was out until 2am! What do you think is a reasonable time to allow your children to stay out until?
3 responses
@jules67 (2788)
• Philippines
26 Jul 09
I am not a mother myself, but I have been taking care of a 5-year-old kid since birth. In my case, I a little strict when it comes to her staying late, not outside, but I mean staying late at night. If possible, she gets to sleep at around 9 pm. But the problem arises when she comes home to her mother, she sometimes stay late until 11 pm playing computers.
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
26 Jul 09
I think the answer to that depends on several factors including what kind of area you live in, if there are other kids out and whether you trust them and, of course, the age of your child. I don't believe it's safe for young children to be outside unsupervised in some neighborhoods at all while in others young kids can play safely until dusk. I wouldn't want a child younger than 13 out alone after dark at all. When my kids were younger and in their teens they had to be in by 9:00 or 10:00 depending on their age and what they were doing.
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
26 Jul 09
I think it depends partially on the age of your children. But I think pretty much any age should be in by 10pm at the latest. I've been letting our kids who are 6,4 and 2 out till around 9pm. Mostly because they like to catch lightning bugs. So we have to wait till it gets dark for them to catch bugs. As soon as they have caught a few then it's time to come in and go to bed.