Mum who refuses to allow seven-year-old son into men’s toilets alone sparks debate

A mum has sparked a debate after saying that she refuses to allow her son to enter the men’s toilets on his own.

Mothers and fathers are judged daily for their parenting styles to keep their children safe, but every effort goes into keeping their young ones away from potential dangers and harm. The unnamed woman shared that she will not let her seven-year-old son go into the gents unaccompanied and instead, she prefers to take him into the ladies with her.

Writing on the website Mumsnet, she told others that she doesn’t want him to ‘see grown men using urinals’ and is worried about him being approached by ‘someone dodgy’.

She will only let him use one public toilet by himself because she knows there’s ‘never anyone about’, as she wrote: “I’m sure this has been discussed before. When we’re out and my boy needs the toilet, I make him come into the Ladies with me.

“Problem is, he’s starting to complain about it and wants to go in the gents on his own. I have let him do this in one particular place where there’s never anyone about, so I knew he wouldn’t encounter anyone at the urinals.”

“I’m always honest with him but I don’t quite know how to explain why I’m not letting him do this anywhere else, like at the swimming pool/gym toilets,” she added.

Without realising, the mum kicked-off a huge debate online with some branding her concerns as ‘paranoia’. One commenter asked: “At what point will you allow him to go to the gents? A special outing on his 18th birthday?” 

Another commented to say that it’s unlikely her son would come across any kind of ‘dodgy’ people in the toilets, writing: “I don’t think most men’s toilets are full of predators who hang out there all day waiting to pounce on a kid.” 

Replying to some of the criticisms, the mum who shared the post said that it will eventually be his decision to go into the men’s, adding: “At some point he just won’t agree to go in the ladies, hopefully by then he’ll be ready to handle any bad situations.”

However, others agreed with the mum’s concerns and could see where she was coming from, with one parent offering their personal experience, saying: “My anxieties about public loos with my just 9-year-old when he goes in alone are often about losing him — I’m thinking of the busy motorway service stations we stop at pretty often.

“I’ve let him go alone there once with strict instructions of where to meet me (me and my daughter had to use the loo as well). 

“He took ages and I got in such a panic, I was imagining someone abducting him, it was so busy anyone could be lost in a crowd, just horrible…

“Most public loos are fine I think and he uses them alone no problem, but I really wish they’d have more family loos in busy/big places.”