what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

on GMTV this morning asking what age should you leave your child in on their own, did you know that there is not a law for it?:( now with that being on there is gonna be more parents leaving em:( I think its wrong!!, no child especially under 13 should be left, unless they have babysitter, which was also said that they 'advice' should be over 16 years of age, and anyone who leaves their child with anyone under that age is still responsible for that child.
i know some people have 12 year olds babysitting!!!...........

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Reece is 10 and walks to school and back on his own, its literally a 5 minute walk with no roads to cross whatsoever, i dont see anything wrong with what you did willow, when Reece was a baby he was also looked after by my friends 12 year old daughter, she was very mature for her age, joanne also has 3 younger siblings


then there is the question about what age do you let them go to town on there own? i was 10 when my mum let me into Accy with my sister (who was 12 at the time) but things where different then, Reece has been to Accy once on his own(baring in mind i live near the redcap) and i was ringing him every 15 minutes to make sure he was alright, i wouldnt let him go with a crowd of children because then he would maybe get up to mischief....just there and back is fine for now i think

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

............. :rofl38:

We had a fridge raider when one of mine was younger :D

I think age is irrelevant, no one knows their own child better than the parents. I let mine do things appropriate to how they are maturing.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

never did us any harm when we used to babysit at 12 anyway

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

........ No comment :D

We never let the child come to harm but geez those army game hurt like hell :eek:

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Lol I know the feeling. We have to keep the front/back doors locked now she can reach the handles.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

pmsfl @ yee..poor kid never had a chance to ride on his police bike did he ;)

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

i think it depends on the child as well how muture they are and if they would be comfortable on there own we first left are son on is own when he went to senior school.but that was just in the day he was thirteen before we went on a night out and left him and then he had mate with him

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

i'm a terrible babysitter, i play with the kids toys more than they do :D

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

i wouldnt dream of living my 13 year old in on her own for a night out!
i dont even let her look after her younger brother, to me they are children and need adult supervision, i suppose, everyone is different, and if I was to leave em on there own i couldnt enjoy myself as id be thinking of them all night, so no point going out, unless i have there grannys watching em

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

my youngest is 14 in june and eldest is 16 at christmas and I have left them for nights out for prob last 18months now, but only very local.

If i am going further afield eg. Manchester they have to be stopping at their dads or friends... and still won't stop anywhere overnight unless they again are at their dads or friends

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

You need to have them at home so they can carry you up the stairs and dump you on your bed when you get in :p:D:D:D:D:D:D

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There was a news story on the local radio yesterday. A 13 year old girl was in the house alone. She set a piece of paper on fire with a lighter (IIRC). She was unable to put it out so she threw it into the front room and ran out of the house. I was trying to find a link to the story but can't sorry, I hope I got the facts right.
Only you can decide if your child is old/sensible enough to be left alone.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Agree, have got to know your own child, but would not myself have left even a 13-year old, only because of the child I was at that age.

My gran lived with us until she died when I was thirteen. My mum and dad wanted to go to my Aunt and Uncles up Burnley Road near Huncoat. Was quite happy to let me be on my own ... an adventure I thought.

Took myself off to bed,but was not the human variety or thoughts of fire that scared me, just that my imagination ran riot and started thinking of goolies, spooks, you name it. Got myself dressed and walked all the way up to my Aunts. Will not forget the look on my mum's face as she saw me at the door, and how she must have been embarassed about what my Aunt was thinking.

Even later in life at 18 .. brother taken himself off to Cambridge, and at last got the backroom to myself (always slept in the same room as my parents.. 2 up/2down). One night very windy and could have sworn someone knocked on the closet door .. never went back in that room again.

So you see, not always about Human dangers, a young mind can be scared of other elements.

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From the age of 11 I was responsible for my three younger brothers. I used to get them ready for school in a morning.....and take the youngest to the child minder. I also had chores to do in the home. I know I felt very grown up.....and believe I was very sensible. I have always felt that these responsibilities, given to me by my parents because they trusted me, made me the person I am today.
I do not think you can generalise about what is the right age to leave a child....you have to know the maturity and the capapbilities of the child before you make such a decision.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

No I tend to get phone calls half way through the night asking me what time they should expect me home!!!!!

In fact after stanley match at clitheroe on monday I dropped some people off back at oaklea and was dragged into the pub against my will :rolleyes: ;) and then got a phone call from my eldest asking me where I was and did I know what time it was!!!!:o

So I think in this household there is a bit of role reversal going on...just wish they did all washing and ironing too :D

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

When I was 12 I used to be kept off school to look after my several month old brother while my stepmother went to bingo........ cow :mad:

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

I can also remember during the school summer holidays collecting pop bottles so that we could get the money to go on the bus to Whalley. I certainly would not be much older than 12. I made a picnic and we spent the day on the banks of the Ribble in Whalley...the boys fished for tiddlers and sticklebacks....I collected a large bunch of very stinky wild garlic flowers and we went home at teatime, having had a lovely adventurous day.......can you imagine the headlines today if a mother allowed her children to do such things.
It was all part of growing up and I would not have had it any other way.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

I was very proud that my parents entrusted the care of my brothers to me....although sometimes they were a blooming imbuggerance.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

I am not trying to be awkward (for a change :D), but the Ribble does not go through Whalley. The Calder does though.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

OK Neil....it wasn't the Ribble......but we had a picnic on the banks of whatever river it is that runs through Whalley. I never was any good at geography....even local stuff.:)

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Unfortunatley it wasn't that sort of environment I lived in. Fair to say if I was a child nowadays living under her roof she would be locked up.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Bin there, done that Margaret.

One thing I was always grateful for though, I was never a 'latch-key' child, always my mum/gran to greet me with a lovely meal at the end of a school day.

Would not ever have given my children/grandaughter the responsibilty of this title either, even when becoming a single parent when my son was 4 ... always made sure he had somewhere safe to go until I got home .. no choice but to earn a crust for them you see .. but the thought of them having to return from school to an empty house made my skin crawl. However, as in the thread that this has sprung from would not be judgemental of other people.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Katex, both of my parents worked......there were 7 of us with me being the eldest......so work was a necessity if you wanted to eat....there was very little available in the way of benefits in those days.....I'm talking 1950's.
I always knew that cash was limited and that to do my share was important...it helped my parents to put bread on the table. We NEVER had holidays....there wasn't the money to do that......but we had a warm comfortable home...plenty of books, records and we played outside a lot. I didn't feel like a latch key child.
We also had good neihbours who would look out for us too.
It was a different kind of life.......but some of the things that we did, our parents would be severely censured for in todays climate.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Like I said Margaret .. not judgemental at all .. worked for your family then.. crumbs !! 7 children, eh ?

Yeh, think these days .. probably will be open to more criticism.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Well i would not like to say my brother was baby sitting for some one at 15 year,s of age

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

It completely depends on the person. I have been able to look after myself (to and from school, home alone etc) pretty much from the last year of primary school(16 now). I do know that this would have been too early for some but for me I would have been able to manage it earlier. Saying that I would be useless as a child minder and have no doubt that there are countless 13 year olds out there that would outshine me in an instant.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

Most children had a great deal more responsibility for themselves in the 40s/50s. From the age of 8 I went to and from school alone - West End to Church on the bus then up to Moscow Mill St to the old St Marys school. Home the same way except for warm Summer afternoons. Then I would walk to Moor End, through the fields and across Tinker Brook, coming out on Thwaites Rd (no houses or flats then), alone or with other children and playing on the way.

Every August from age 9 until I was 14 I went to stay with my aunt and uncle in Whitley Bay. I was put on the train at Accrington, alone and with instructions - and a tip - given to the guard to keep an eye on me (if I was lucky I saw him a couple of times), and a reserved seat. I was met at Newcastle by my uncle.

I was about 9 when I was first allowed to go into Blackburn on my own. I went, that first time, with a shopping list - cheese for mum from the market and a reel of black cotton from Woolworths. I was so proud to be trusted that I've never forgotten.

I was 10 when my dad got his first post-war car - 1953. Right up until I got married it would never occur to me to ask him to take me anywhere. If I went out it was under my own steam.

Perhaps it was a safer world, then, but it wasn't a perfect world. Children were warned about "strangers" and danger just as much then as now, but we were given a measure of independence that probably appals many of you today. It's just the way things were.

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There was alway 'bad men' about when we were young Westender .. seen many a flasher down a back street as you walked past and followed home on a few occasions myself; child sex crimes have not increased as time has moved on.

Seemingly, was only taken to school on my very first day at Infant School by my big brother, after that was on my own .. never, ever did my mum walk or wait at the school gates for me. Wasn't too far to Peel Park from William Street anyway. Ok... traffic was less, but there is a crossing now across Burnley Road to Alice Street and possibly lollipop lady? Remember though school runners, as we have covered this subject many times before, that a child is in more danger of being involved in a road traffic accident in a car on their way to school, than being hit by a car whilst walking.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

I was going to and from school on my own from when I was about 9. We moved into Fielding Lane just before my ninth birthday and went to St Mary's school. I used to call for my friend who lived down the lane and we'd walk together - it was a fairly tame walk but even so we had to cross Hawthorne Avenue which was fairly busy.

I wouldn't trust mine to walk to school on their own though. I've said to Maddie that they can walk to school on their own when Zack is in Juniors.

As for leaving them on their own in the house - I think probably when they are around 11 or 12 for short periods.

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I was 7 when i went to school on my own for the first time. Crossed the end of northfield road then crossed the road at the zebra crossing (as it was then now its a pedestrian crossing) then crossed rising bridge road up to school. I thought i was so grown up especially because my next door neighbour older than me (by 5 days) was still being took by her mum! lol First time being left on my own in the house was when i was 10 when i kicked up a fuss about going down accy with mum & dad on sat morning and doing the shopping. So mum locked me in and went down accy with dad. First time i went on a bus on my own 11 i had to practice because i was going to the high school and needed to catch a bus - it was 7p to haslingden so mum used to give me 30p 14p for bus fares and the rest for sweets on my way to and from school. The only thing was coming home if i caught the bus at the stop outside school then it was 9p if i walked into the centre of haslingden it was 7p so more often than not i walked up the road to hassy centre. If it was raining or during winter though used to pay the 9p!!! lol

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

At the age of 11 I used to have to make the trip to Blackburn from Ossy as I went to St.Mary's College.I didn't have a problem with it but in this day and age I don't know.Leaving alone in the house I would say teenage years if they are responsible enough.Everyone should know thier own kids mentality.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

It's a parental decision to make at all times isn't it? There have been lots of good examples already posted.

I don't have children but my partner does. Most of the time they are very self sufficient (16/18 - boys) but there are times, even at that age, when he says no, or agrees a compromise with lifts etc.

I think the argument should always be if someone behaves recklessly (don't care) then they could be at fault.

Suz x.

Re: what age should a child be left in on their own??
 

The age i would say 16 year.s old but still at that age iam not shur?