| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/12/2007 9:48:20 PM | | You should call your local authorities and ask them what the legal age is first, when my oldest son was 10 I called and asked and they said it depended on the maturity of the child. My youngest son is 9 and there is no way I would leave him alone. | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/13/2007 4:25:03 AM | | I think the age is 12, but I"m not sure. That is how old I was when I started babysitting. I would definitely try to find out, maybe do a search. What age do you have to be to take the Red Cross Babysitting Course? That might give you an idea...I'll have to look it up, but that would give a good idea. | |
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ok.1
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Joined: 9/14/2006
Msg: 53 | |
| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/13/2007 5:40:17 AM | I just went to a "home alone" course with my kids. It was held by the YMCA. In this course they stated 10 was old enough, but all other aspects have to be looked at. Basically it was up to the parents to decide if their 10 year old is "mature" enough to stay home alone. Now this course was geared for "working parents" who's child(ren) may be home alone until the parents arrive from work. So a couple of hours tops.
I am going through a struggle with myself on this one, as my kids are currently in a before & after school program, but my daughter will be changing schools next year, and that is not offered. So I have the choice of obtaining a babysitter (I do not currently have one) or let her stay home alone. This is something that I am taking very seriously. I am more affected by her staying alone than she is. I am still weighing my options, and will make sure either way that my daughter's safety and well being is coming first.
K | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/13/2007 6:03:12 AM |
am going through a struggle with myself on this one, as my kids are currently in a before & after school program, but my daughter will be changing schools next year, and that is not offered
Same here. You are right...after 5th grade they stop offering after school care (at least where I am). I couldn't pay for it even if I wanted to, b/c once they hit middle school (6th grade) they are considered old enough. Of course I can't think of anything worse than a 6th grader home alone with the tv, phone, and internet at their disposal! AAAH | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/13/2007 6:08:22 AM | | Times are differnt now. I would have said 11 or 12, but it is not always about how mature the kids are. I would be more worried about how would my son react in an emergency. All the training and instruction is great but does no good if he panics and freezes. The problem is that there is no way to test a kid to see how they will react. Since Gramma lives 2 minutes away, I will have no problem calling her to watch him until he is a teenager. Better safe than sorry. | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/15/2007 11:18:56 AM | | it always depends on the children never there age if there mature enough then i dont see a problem test them by leaving them on there own and going round to the neibours for half hour then an hour another time telling them were you are and see how they cope i think as long as children no what to do in an emergency like 999 and get out in a fire the should be left children cope really well with responcibility and it boosts there confidence | |
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Pucks
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Joined: 10/14/2006
Msg: 59 | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/15/2007 11:39:53 AM | Wow, I was left home alone, starting at age 9. I really don't feel abused. Both of my parents worked. They worked to make my life pleasant. I didn't realize how bad things were, back then. A couple of years later, things changed, and my mom became a stay-at-home mom, well, more working from home mom. :-)
I think others have mentioned it, and are right. It depends on the maturity level. | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/16/2007 8:24:01 AM |
Of course I can't think of anything worse than a 6th grader home alone with the tv, phone, and internet at their disposal!
although you seemed to be saying this sarcasticly maybe you should think a bit.
I have been using the internet long enough to know that you have to have all sorts of blocks on your tv, your internet and even on your phone line these days. Just try looking up "beaver" on a search engine and see what your kid looking for info on a class project would see. Remember these porn/smut sites may be all well and good for adults to look at .. but do you want your child to decide to be a porn star before they are 14? never mind the fact they have to be legally older before they can sign the contract.
These site love it when kids visit because those very children are potential resources in one of the biggest money making industries in the world. Why do you think so many porn sites have seemingly innocent addresses? often a typo in the url bar or in a search engine will take you to some form of smut site or better yet to an add portal that advertises them.
Take very good care with your internet access. Better yet don't allow them near it without you untill they are at least 14 (14 is my opinon only different children will develop at different rates.)
Personally My son at 10 is NOT allowed unsupervised access to a computer at all. Yet i allow him to goto the park alone.. stay in the house alone for a few mins either after school or when i run to the store. It is a parents job to prepare thier child to be on thier own. Sadley i have a friend who is 15 years younger then i and STILL lives with his mother even though his girlfriend moved in with him 2 years ago.
If my son CHOOSES to live with me after he is old enough to be on his own i have no problem with that. BUT he WILL be able to deal with situations. This may seem a bit harsh to some people but i triggered a false fire alarm in our house one day 5 mins after i "left" to goto the store just to see if he would act/react properly. It was amusing as hell and filled me with pride when he was crawling out his window (his fire exit from his room)
with the phone to his ear calling 911 while he was getting out. He didn't even grab any tous on his way. It was well worth the fine (stupid me forgot to get a permit to do this beforehand) to see my son react intelligently and responsibly to a perceived danger when there was no immediate adult presence to his knowledge. It entirely depends on the child AND on the training the child has received. Walking out one day to goto the store without having ever taught your child emergency procedures is what i call irresponsible parenting
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/16/2007 8:44:10 AM | In the UK the NSPCC guidelines say that no child under 9 should be left alone at home even for short periods
Between 9 and 13 they can be left for short period depending on maturity levels but should not be expected to cook or such for themselves
14 to 16 they can be left in the evenings or even baby sit for younger siblings again dependant on maturity levels
And at 16 they can be left overnight if they are happy to be left
Here at 17 kids can leave home anyway so it becomes a mute point
I wouldnt leave my daughter in the car in a petrol station so guess I wont be leaving her home alone anytime soon and she is 7 | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/16/2007 8:59:58 AM | Don't assume the law covers this. I had a concern about a year ago about 2 boys, 10 and 6 who seemed to run around our neighborhood completely unsupervised, often begging for food. I found out both parents work and usually left them in the care of their older sisters (who would then go about doing what young teenagers do which had nothing to do with watching their brothers). My sister used to work for CPS and recommended I call them. I called them only to find out that our law here has no age. You can leave ANY AGE child unsupervised and there is not a specific legal remedy for it. If you do it often enough (it has to be really, really often), a caseworker might come out and "talk to you". For any harsher consequences, the child first has to suffer some obvious detriment, once in awhile, even death, before anything is done.
Personally, I have been experimenting with leaving my 9 year old on his own for very short periods of time (no more than an hour). He does fine as he is very smart and very responsible (that's more important than the age BTW) but it still makes me extremely nervous. | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/17/2007 9:27:25 AM | Depends on maturity. I've known 9 year olds that I wouldn't leave for 10 minutes alone with a kitten. I'd say without hesitation around 12.
Now, I grew up differently, and we were given prob TOO much leaway (sp?).. but it's a different time. I'll let my almost 10 year old alone while I go to the store (3 minutes away) to get .. like milk or something. I will leave him alone for longer if my neighbor is home. (so she's essentially 'watching' him but he can hang out at his own house. If he needs an adult, she is literally 10 steps away from our front door to hers). I'd never leave him home alone for more then 3 minutes if the neighbor was not home, and I'd never leave him in charge of his 6 yo brother (unless the neighbor was home and it was for 10 minutes or less). I personally wouldn't leave them alone for hours until maybe -11 or 12
moo | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/17/2007 9:35:42 AM | Actually I was thinking back
When I was 7 I used to go to school on my own, half a mile away, I would run errands to the shop to get things and this was central London!
At age 11 I used to travel on a bus then a tube to get to school and would come home to an empty house for a few hours we were called latchkey kids in those days | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/18/2007 4:33:58 AM | | my eldest was babysitting for a social worker for short periods of time at the age of 11. the workers son had karate twice a week and another child had piano.I don't know the laws regarding this, but...a 12 year old girl can go to doctors office for birth control and no obligation to notify parents(even though legal age of consent is 14) the schools offer "the babysitting course in grade 6 (kids approx 11-12 years old) most of us did...or had pals that babysat thier siblings after school frm ages 8+. I agree it depends of the level of maturity , how strong a sense of responsibility ect of the child. ...my girl was great! but my boys....I'd probally still be nervous leavin them home alone at 20! lol | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/18/2007 11:48:34 AM | | Being raised on a farm out in the sticks I was 9-10 when my parents left the younger ones with me. My son stayed alone at 12-13 while I worked shifts. Depends on the kid and the trust level between they and their parent/s. | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/18/2007 7:01:23 PM | If there was a crisis such as a burn from a spilled hot drink or a tv dinner, a fall down the stairsfrom running around, a deep bleeding cut from cutting a piece of cheese. a choking younger child... would the child know what to do and do it calmly? That's the age they can be left at home alone IMHO. If they just sit an watch tv and dont move or eat or drink they are relatively safe but how likely is that?
I raised my kid alone for many years. I invited friends over to socialise or I paid a babysitter. Not a kid. An older lady in the neighbourhood. | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/18/2007 8:42:05 PM | At 12 your old enough to babysit. CSA deam it the maturity of the kid. Personally my daughter is 12. I'll leave her alone for a couple of hrs. but not at lste night. I don't think its fare. I don't go out usually on my weekends. I go places she can come or make arrangements. The way I see I only have a few years before she's totally embarresed by me. I'm keeping my time.
b | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/18/2007 11:16:09 PM | | i sometimes have this problem, i have two children, girls 11 and 15. They now stay home alone if I go to the shops, or when i go to dancing for an hour. But only last year a person i know lost her house, and everything she owned through a house fire. She left the house to see her boyfriend, leaving her 16 year old son and his 16 year old girlfriend to watch a 12, 10 and 2 year old. They went out and left the 12 year old in charge. While the 12 year old was outside with his friends, the 10 year old in the shower, the 2 year old lit a fire on the matress of the a bed.. the 12 year old luckily came inside, got the 10 year old and 2 year old outside..and he tried to put the fire out.. only making the fire worse by moving the matress.. they were very lucky... out of her 7 children, she could have easily lost three of her children too... I really dont think age has anything to do with it.. I think children shouldnt be left alone for lengthy periods, because any situation could arise, and they shouldnt have to be responsible to deal with it. The 12 year old now suffers a lot of guilt that he couldnt put the fire out.. and even the two year realises what he has done... children shouldnt have to deal with things like that... we have children, we bring them into this world, we look after them,or find the appropriate care for them.. every child deserves the right to be safe! | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/19/2007 9:30:44 AM | My kids started riding their bikes home and being alone after school at 9 years old. I called our local sherrifs dept and they said no legal age, depends on the kids and whether you feel they can and should be left alone. He even said there are 8 year olds ok to stay alone like that ( a couple of hours alone) and 15 year olds who absolutely should not be left alone.
They are now 12 years old, and if I go out at night, and they are not at their dads they are ok alone, but I do not go for long. During the days on weekends I usually work and they are there alone and ok. They know not to cook, not to go out, not to answer the door, etc.
It all depends on the kids. When I did call the sherrifs office to ask, they also said "you gotta do what you have to, within reason of course." | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/19/2007 1:27:59 PM |
Alone is Alone.
Consider this scenario:
All the kids are in bed. You want to go to the store for 5 minutes. Not much chance for something to happen (ie: someone coming into your home and abducting your kids). But what if something happens to YOU ??
You get hit by a car. You get mugged and beat-up. You end up in the hospital.
Would your child/ren know what to do if they woke up in the middle of the night or in the morning and you weren't there ?
I had someone in my old neighbourhood who would put their kids to bed and then go out to party. And someone else would put their baby to sleep and then go for a walk during the day.
It's great that all these people think of their children's safety, but what about their own ? | |
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| How old is old enough to stay at home alone?
Posted: 5/19/2007 9:40:37 PM | When my oldest son was 10 he started pushing really hard to be allowed to stay at home for short periods of time. I was okay with it, because he was quite mature at that age. His father (we are divorced) was NOT okay with it. So I called Child Care Services and they said that it is based on the maturity level of the child. So I then talked to my son's daycare provider and she agreed with me that he was more than able to stay at home, by himself, for short periods of time.
Now, he's 13 and I have no issues with leaving him at home for the day. He is very responsible and has proven his ability to make the right choices. It also helps that we live in a secured building and we know all our neighbours quite well.
Now, I also have a 10 year old son....he, on the other hand, will be in daycare until he's 21. ..lol No sense of responsibiity in that kid. The older son has watched him for 2 hours maximum and that works out okay. But not for longer than that, they fight too much. | |
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| Laws are by Region in Ontario
Posted: 5/19/2007 10:39:01 PM | | I called the CAS last year regarding this topic and in Ontario the laws are by region on this issue and in Hamilton for instance there is no set age in the code. The code states that as long as the child is responsible and mature enough to respond to emergency situations, knows what to do etc... (which is all left to parental judegement) then all is OK. That is not to say that Joe Blow living two houses down can't call and report children of certain age alone in a home if he feels it's inappropriate. I was told in that situation the CAS would go to the home and if the child(ren) in question could answer some specific questions correctly and with acceptable answers and of course there was nothing dangerous occuring in the home then they would leave and everything is fine. ut, if the child cannot answer the questions appropriately there's a big problem. | |
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