At what age can a kid stay home by themselves

I don't even let my 10 (soon to be 11) alone for short errands - except perhaps a run to the car or bring the dog outside - in this case I am very close by.

But I am probably over protective - also there has been no reason to leave her alone.

Although the high level in the area must be 12 (not for short trips, but say for afterschool care) - it seems after school care ends at age 12 as if miraculously upon turning 12 you no longer require supervision.

that's probably a not bad argument for starting to teach children at 10 and 11 how to handle that unsupervised time

Oh Beth - what a good girl you were. That was about the age I got busted for some bad decisions on my part and got to spend the next year chaperoned at everything I did by one or both parents. I was not a wise child.

I agree with many of you in that it probably depends on the child and how mature they are for their age. I am not there yet - mine are 9 and 6.

One thing I do not want to do though, is allow my own stupidity as a child to color my perception of my kids trustworthiness....that's tough though. I have one just like me. So scary.

Great topic boomerang.

Before reading down to where I figured you mention Mo's age, I considered when I was left alone for an hour or so, like mother taking a trip to the grocery store.
I recollected being 8.
I don't remember being scared about anything, if it was during the day.

Being alone all night? If parents were on vacation, and older siblings went out, I think it was around 15.

boris kitten, I think a 5 year old is too young to be left at a library for hours. It's a shame it's being used as a babysitter.

By 8 I would go to the library alone and spend hours there by myself. By that time, you were in school, and I think a lot of kids have become comfortable with not having a parent around them all the time.

My kids are 7 and 9 and I often leave them home when I walk up to the grocery store for up to 30 minutes. Because there are two of them, I guess I feel more comfortable. I also feel better about it when the distance is short -- meaning I can get back quickly if I'm needed. And of course they have the cell phone numbers.

I'm not sure how I would feel if it was just one child. Maybe they'd be more scared in that case?

Yes - I was drinking...they were drinking - they were driving. It's good I got caught. It never even crossed my mind they could have an accident. It was dumb.

Thankfully I got caught before we did it again and someone got killed. Might not have ever happened...but that's not something a parent wants to take a chance on.

Of course I was not this gracious when I was 15 - which is probably why I was on a leash for as long as I was.

But it's not something they had ever talked to me about before either. I don't think they ever thought I would do that...I am not sure why though. I was curious about everything. I talk a lot more to my kids about everything than my folks did to me. I think they took it for granted that I thought things through! Oops. That was a mistake.

To my mind, it depends on the individual kid,
and how he feels about it. 8 shoud be OK,
but some jurisdictions might have local
ordinances or statutes. As I remember,
some of those were enacted because
of kids found alone in fires, by the
responding fire depts.

I was alone for long periods of time
when I was 8, always after school
and all day long during the summer vacations.





David

Welcome to the forum.
When I was 11, I used to have to take busses alone from Los Angeles
to Phoenix, Arizona, trips of a few hours and then a cab or a bus
to my home. It was not a problem.





David

Since this thread has been resurrected, I thought I'd share this link:

http://life.familyeducation.com/safety/home-alone/36362.html

I actually bought the book and it's a really good read. I recommend it.

I've read that book and I agree that it's very good.

We've practiced those things. We've even gone further on a point of two:

That it's perfectly fine to be rude to an adult who tries to start a conversion with him or asks him a question or for help when Mr. B and I aren't around. That grown up should know better than to do that.

That if someone tries to get him in a car by saying they have a gun that he should yell "Then you'd better shoot me here" and run.

That if someone tries to grab him he should yell, hit, kick, scream, fight, pee on himself, poop on himself, vomit or otherwise do what ever it takes to get away.

We've rehearsed how to find a city bus stop and ask the driver for help if he's ever lost.

We've gone places and picked out people we thought would be safe to ask for help.

We have "safety questions" that have to be answered should anyone ever try to tell him that Mr. B and I sent someone else to pick him up (with the understanding that we would never send someone he doesn't know to pick him up).

We've never had a "stranger danger" talk, just a "danger" talk.

That 's good advice, boomer,
especially about refusal to enter a car,
but rather to fight for his life and depart.





David