Do your children have the skills they need for their age?

Kids should be able to tie their own shoelaces by age 8. Photo / Getty Images

By Molly Rose Pike

Children should be able to tie their shoelaces at eight, ride a bike at seven and be trusted to have their own front door key by 14, according to parents.

A survey of 2,000 mothers and fathers found they have a very clear idea of when their children should have achieved, or be allowed to do, particular things, wrote The Daily Mail.

The list included guidelines from the youngest children to teenagers, also revealing the ages your brood should be dating and using social media.

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Many parents admitted they didn't stick to their own rules and let their children do things earlier than they would have liked.

Most believe the kids should be allowed pocket money at nine, start putting their own clothes in the wash at eight and be old enough to have a Facebook account at 14.

Youngsters are also considered mature enough to walk to school alone and have their own mobile phone at 12 years of age.

Once they reach 16 they can have friends over when their parents aren't around and also be out after dark.

While 15 is the age they can listen to explicit songs, go on dates and start buying their own clothes.

Parents are happy for their youngsters to have a TV in their bedroom at 11 years old and trust them to surf the web unsupervised when they are 12.

A spokesperson for My Nametags, who commissioned the research, said: 'The survey just goes to show some of the many intricacies of being a parent.

'Of course, every child is different and may be able to do things or take on certain responsibilities later or earlier than our results show.

'However, it's fascinating to get some indication of when mums and dads will typically allow or expect their kids to do certain things.'

WhatsApp and Snapchat accounts are permitted at 14, while MP3 players and tablets are allowed at 12 - and laptops are considered acceptable at 13.

Ten is the age they can have friends over for sleepovers and go to their pals for overnight stays too.

However, 56 per cent said they granted many of the privileges featured in the research earlier than they were granted them by their own mums and dads.

Four in ten said they feel peer pressure from other parents to allow their kids to do certain things, while half have fallen out with their partner over the kid's privileges.

Teaching children the value of belongings and how to avoid loss are among the things that cause parents the most problems as their youngsters get older.

Andersen, added: "It's also really interesting to find that a parent's biggest worry is their child losing something, especially as we don't expect children to be responsible for their possessions until the age of ten - which is halfway through primary school.

"That's a lot of school kit which can go missing before they learn to take care of it, exactly why our name labels for children are so popular.''

And 13 is the point when parents trust their children to be in the house alone and also go out on their own.

Those polled believe children can stay up until 8pm at eight years old, not go to bed until 9pm aged ten and not get their heads down until 10pm aged 12.

Twenty-nine per cent of mums and dads consider themselves to be stricter than other parents.