Things to do
- Learning to go out alone is important for children’s development.
- Prepare your children for going out alone by teaching them safety skills and getting to know their surroundings together.
- Find out how your child is handling their current level of independence before giving them more independence.
- Create rules and emergency plans to keep children safe when they go out alone.
Going out alone: why it’s important for children
Learning to travel, play and move safely in their community without adult supervision is an important part of children’s development. It helps them develop the skills they need to be independent in their teenage years.
Learning to go outside without adults has many benefits for children:
- Physical activity – For example, children who walk or bike to school tend to be more physically active than those who go to school by car.
- Life skills – For example, children learn to make decisions, B. where to cross the road, or solve problems. Example: B. what to do if their bike tire gets a flat.
- Mental health – For example, independence has a positive impact on children’s confidence, self-esteem, and sense of belonging.
- Community ties – For example, children get to know their neighborhood better and may say hello to their neighbors on the way to school.
A Step-by-Step Approach to Independence
Children need skills and confidence to be independent and go out safely. This is best started long before you let your child go out alone. This allows them to learn and practice at a pace that is comfortable for them and for you.
For example, your child may take the following steps gradually to get them more prepared to walk home from school on their own.
- After school, you will pick up your child from the schoolyard or a designated pick-up spot. You and your child will walk home together. Your child is collected from the school gate. You and your child walk home together.
- Your child is collected from the school gate and walks 5 metres in front of you, then 10 metres, and so on.
- Your child walks home from school with older siblings or friends.
- You can adjust these procedures to prepare your child for walking independently to other locations, such as local shops or a friend’s house.
As part of a step-by-step approach to increasing independence, you can help your child develop the skills they need by:
- Familiarizing your child with their environment and community
- Teach your child about pedestrian and road safety
- Teach your child about personal safety in their community.
- Get to know your surroundings and community
- Getting to know your neighbourhood is a great way to develop your child’s skills, knowledge and confidence long before they go out on their own.
Here are some things you and your child can do together:
Explore your surroundings. You and your child can plan a safe route to local destinations, such as the local playground or school, before completing the route together.
Ride public transport together and explain what you are doing. For example, you can teach your child how to get a ticket. And if you and your child miss a stop or your train is canceled, you can discuss with them what to do next.
Get to know people in your community — your neighbors, your child’s teacher, the staff at the local coffee shop — a way to build a support network for you and your child.
Get involved in community programs for safe walking to school, such as bike-riding programs or the annual National Safe to School Day. Talk to your school or local government about organizing programs and events.
Personal Safety Skills
As your child grows, they will encounter more and more unfamiliar people and situations. They may also find themselves lonely in new places.
Here’s how you can teach your child what to do around unfamiliar people:
- Talk to your child about what to do in different situations, for example, when they are approached by a person they don’t know. You can role-play this situation or even create a circle of friends to teach your child how to behave and what to do. Talk to your children about people they can safely ask for help from and how to identify them, such as police officers, security guards, store employees, and teachers at your child’s school. You can warn your children when they see these people and show them where to find their uniforms or name tags.
- Tell your children to never get in a car or ride with people they don’t know.
- Talk to your children about child sexual abuse so they understand what it is and how to keep themselves safe.
- It’s important to help your children recognize safe, unsafe and dangerous places. To do this, talk to your child about how certain places make you feel. You can ask your child, “Where do you feel comfortable and safe? Why do you feel safe there?”
You can also give your child examples of safe places and less safe or dangerous places:
“A safe place is one where there are lots of people and you know people.”
“A less safe or dangerous place is one where there is no one to help you if something goes wrong.”
