What Age Do You Think It is Ok for Kids to Be Home Alone ?
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When i saw this article i immediately thought 'Home Alone' with Macaulay Culkin
A great film but take away the comedy and it is a serious matter
I always thought there was an age limit kids can be left home , but apparently not, according to this article
The NSPCC say it is against the law to leave a child alone if it puts them at risk but there is no legal age that a child can be left
That surprises me
What do you think about it ?
www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/24032502.age-child-can-stay-home-alone-uk-nspcc-advises/
Depends on the children. I would have happily left my daughter at home alone for two hours from the age of 12.
My son took a little longer.
With our oldest son, it was 16 years old, and with the youngest one, it will be the same
I know some that have left the children at home alone all under 11 I wouldn't do that at all I think probably about 15 if there responsible
It depends entirely on the child. Some would be mature enough at 12, others would be 15 or 16. It also depends on how long you are leaving them for.
MrsCraig I tend to agree with you and most comments M, i think there are three factors as mentioned, the age , the maturity of the child, and length of time
Going on holiday and leaving alone would not be an option without social services getting involved but i have read of this happening
Mine from about 10 to go to shops further away from my house. From about 8 to go to my nearest shop. Nearest shop is closer to my house then where I park the car.
I think this depends on maturity and length of time left alone - but generally I would say from 15 years old.
Most kids can't be trusted to be home alone until 18, even then it's debatable! But seriously I suppose 13/14. Can't believe there is no legal age put on it. Would any responsible parent leave an under 10 alone!?
I found this out years ago when someone I knew was not at home when their child returned from school. I couldn’t believe the law. In my eyes it is not acceptable.
10 -11 I'd say for short periods is OK. By 13 onwards I think longer periods, but depends on maturity how you go about it.
I’m not a parent but I think as all kids are different there is no set age. Some children are more responsible at a younger age etc.
I used to get left home alone in the day from about 12 years old
I was left alone whilst my mum did night shifts when I was 13. I had my mum's number and her work number in case of emergency. I wasn't a bad kid and didn't invite my mates over whilst my mum was out. The only time I left the house was to go to school the next day.
What does the law say? Is there not a legal age where you can leave a child at home for a period?
Well it depends on the child my mum would have been able to leave my wee sister from about 10 with me..... I am now in my 50s and think she would still be worried about what I would get up to lol
So much of this depends on the child the relationship of the child and parent and the circumstances which is why we this isn’t set in law. There are a lot of single parents out there who would really struggle if there wasn’t an element of common sense.
Depends on the child. Then I’d gradually build up the time alone and I’d make sure there was someone close by for any emergency.
i was quite young when I could be left alone but times have changed
I was like 7 or 8 left alone, but I had an NES and it was the 90's so it was different.
During school holidays when I was 9-10 years old I was often left in charge of my two sisters aged 4 and 6 as our mum worked part time and dad was often away in the Navy. this was back in the mid 1970's - we know which of the neighbours to call on if we needed. So glad that has changed and wouldn't generally be acceptable now. It does have to depend on the child though so I am glad there isn't a specific age. We couldn't leave our autistic son home alone when he was 16.
Depends on the child, their needs, the time of day and the duration.
Possible starts at 12-14.
Is there a difference between the age that you would leave your child alone at home or let them go out by themselves?
Animons my 12 year old daughter has a number of learning difficulties ranging from ASD to ADHD and it will be a long time before I leave her home alone as she wouldn't cope if something went wrong but, she does go to the local shop about 200 yards down the road. I probably wouldn't have allowed her to do that yet either except that I caught her sneaking back into the house after she decided to do it herself anyways. She got grounded for 6 weeks but after that I allowed her to go if she tells us first. I also use Google maps to send me a notification when she gets to the shop and can check where she is in real-time. I try to encourage as much independence as possible in her as I know that there are a lot of things in life that she's going to find difficult.
Animons I suppose it depends on how old they are and whether they have mobiles already. There's already a vast amount of free software and apps out there that allow you to track a phone's location. With automated services and routines you can put together quite a lot using android and google. Depending on who's working late that week, me and the better half get notifications about when we've left work so the other one can start dinner.
I agree, it’s scary that there is no minimum age; it’s understandable when you know that kids mature at different stages and have different abilities at every age, but then some parents just aren’t suitable parents and leave children who shouldn’t be on their own. I found out there was no minimum age when I raised a safeguarding years ago for a 10yo with severe learning disabilities who had been left home alone with 3 younger siblings! It was the lads carer who called it in saying they wouldn’t let him in as there were no parents on scene.
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