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Kelly1109
member
what age is it ok for a kid to stay at home alone?
Kelly1109
member
My SD is 9 and we share custody. So every Monday she switches houses. Last week was Spring break and she was with mom. Well our daycare for our kids was closed so we offered to watch DD since DH was off work with the kids anyway. SD came over Monday and Tuesday but then BM said she could take her to work with her the rest of the week. We found out this morning that she left her home alone 2 of those days. I'm sorry but 9 seems way too young. So now BM wants to let her do that this summer. DH and I are not ok with it. BM only wants to do it because of the $. She is broke and doesn't want to pay for her to go somewhere. This is a girl who can't make herself a sandwich. How is she going to be responsible enough to stay at home??
Am I overreacting on this? Is 9 an acceptable age to leave a kid home alone?
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Re: what age is it ok for a kid to stay at home alone?
DD is 9. I might consider leaving her alone while I ran to the grocery store (I haven't, but I would not think of that as horrible), but I would not in 10 million years leave her alone all day. In fact, DH went back to working in an office (not from our home) and I ended my carpool b/c I would not leave DD alone at the house for hte 15 minutes between dropoff of my son and the time she was picked up by the carpool, because I felt that if she was alone every day at the same time she could be the target of a predator (but even kids who are "bad news" would be a problem). Plus, what is she going to do, sit and watch tv all day? Never leave the house or open the door?
I would have a fit if I were your DH. That would not fly and I would talk to your lawyer about that.
She wants to leave her home alone all day while she goes to work over the summer?
That is just too young to leave a kid home alone that long. My SS will be 9 next month and we sometimes leave him home alone watching tv while we take a walk around the block. We take the baby and he gets to watch his show without his little brother climbing all over him.
I would NOT leave my 9 year old home all day while I went to work. Not a chance.
It depends on the kid, but I am thinking all day unsupervised...maybe 13?
Besides, kids that hang out unsupervised for long periods of time tend to get in trouble. Why risk it?
I was babysitting when I was 10 but times are totally different now. I would consider leaving a child alone for a few hours when they were an old 11 or young 12 if they had a decent maturity level for that age.
My parents started leaving me home alone for short periods (10ish minutes) when I was 7. By the time I was 12, I was home unsupervised all day (for the summer) babysitting my younger sisters.
Some states have laws that explicitly state the age at which a minor can be left home alone. And even then, it's a case-by-case thing dependent on the circumstances and the child.
Most counties/states have LAWS regarding the age children can be left alone. Some even drill down with a age and length of time.
Personally, I would catch her in the act and use it for full custody, becuase that is endangerment.
The first time she tries it, call the police to do a well child check.
And the second and the third.
She'll get the idea that it's not okay.
I will leave my 11 year old home alone to run to the grocery store or something like that, but there is no way he would stay home all day by himself.
I babysat every Saturday night for my cousin's kids when I was 12, but for some reason it just seems like another time. Things are different now a days and there is no way my 11 year old will be home all day by himself.
OK can I ask - what is a well child check??
I think times are changing and people are becoming more uncomfortable leaving younger kids home alone. I know some states have laws with restrictions on this, so that would be a good starting point for reference.
I was 8 when my parents started letting me be home alone after school until they came home from work. It was usually no more than 2 hours and I was pretty responsible for being that young. Now, when my daughter hits 8 there is no way in hell I'd let her stay home alone for even 2 hours. I can understand maybe 10 or 15 minutes, but not hours on a regular basis.
We started at 12 for shorter time periods, but it does depend on maturity level also.
And besides the legality factor, I just don't think it's fair to the 9 year old child to be alone all day everyday in the summer.