&gt; A 5 year old child is old enough to go to a grocery store, buy stuff, and walk back home. I’ve done it, all my neighbors did it, and everyone I know has done it.<p>Depends on where the family lives, how far the grocery store is and on the kid maturity.<p>Please , don&#x27;t make general statements like that. Some 5 y.o. are mature enough to do that, some aren&#x27;t. I wouldn&#x27;t let my kid go to the grocery store alone if I lived in a crime ridden ghetto with shootings everyday and prostitution+Joes on the corner of my house, and neither would you.