A mother has complained that her eight-year-old is “far too young” to change by himself at her local swimming pool.
Niamh O’Reilly and her two sons often visit a hotel in their local community to use its swimming pool.
Next week her oldest son will turn eight, at which point, according to the hotel’s rules, he can no longer change with Ms O’Reilly in the female changing room.
“There’s not a hope in hell when he turns eight next week that I’ll be sending him in by himself to the men’s changing room, while I bring his younger five-year-old brother to the ladies,” Ms O’Reilly told Lunchtime Live.
“I just think eight is far too young; he still gets visits from the tooth fairy, he has just written his letter to Santa Claus - he’s a little boy.
“I just think asking an eight-year-old to go in by themselves, it’s too young.”
Ms O’Reilly said he worries about what may happen to him if he is left unsupervised.
“There would be hotel guests - not just people coming with their kids for their swimming lessons,” she said.
“So, there would be strange people, who you don’t know, possibly in there with your child at eight in the male dressing room by themselves.
“As much as I like to think the world is a good place and they’d be perfectly safe in your local swimming pool changing room, I’m not sending an eight-year-old in by himself.
“I just think it’s far too young.”
A swimming pool. Image: Peter Noyce PLB / AlamyMs O’Reilly said she does not know what the “perfect age” is to leave a child unattended but thinks it is a choice that should be left to parents - not hotel staff.
“It does depend on your child,” she said.
“Some children might be okay with it, I don’t know.
“Some parents might be okay with it; my feeling is that a lot of other parents think eight is too young to ask them to go in by themselves.”
According to Tusla, children under the age of 14 are not considered to be “mature” and cannot be “left alone or unsupervised”.
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Main image shows a boy swimming. Picture by: Alamy.com
