Appropriate Age to be Left Home Alone

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Allegra

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Just curious what other people think about the age it is appropriate to leave a typical child home alone. I realize that this depends on the maturity of the individual child and other factors such as the safety of the home, whether there are neighbors nearby that can check on or help, time of day, if there are other children there as well or not, etc. But I was just wondering what people thought in general. Thinking back, I routinely got off my bus and went home to an empty house in second grade, along with my younger sister who was in kindergarten. We were home alone until my mother got off from work but that was only an hour and a half. By the time I was in 4th grade, I spent the day home alone during school breaks and summer vacation. To me, that seems crazy young to be left home for the whole day. By sixth grade, I stayed home during the summer and took care of my infant sibling. While I think it’s possible that children in this day and age aren’t a mature as we were “back in the day”, that still seems a little crazy to me. So what age do you think is generally appropriate for a child to be home alone all day?
 
Depends on the child, as some will be more mature than others.

My folks left me alone at home after schools in third grade, caring for my brother who was in kindergarten.
 
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Allegra said:
Just curious what other people think about the age it is appropriate to leave a typical child home alone. I realize that this depends on the maturity of the individual child and other factors such as the safety of the home, whether there are neighbors nearby that can check on or help, time of day, if there are other children there as well or not, etc. But I was just wondering what people thought in general. Thinking back, I routinely got off my bus and went home to an empty house in second grade, along with my younger sister who was in kindergarten. We were home alone until my mother got off from work but that was only an hour and a half. By the time I was in 4th grade, I spent the day home alone during school breaks and summer vacation. To me, that seems crazy young to be left home for the whole day. By sixth grade, I stayed home during the summer and took care of my infant sibling. While I think it’s possible that children in this day and age aren’t a mature as we were “back in the day”, that still seems a little crazy to me. So what age do you think is generally appropriate for a child to be home alone all day?
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The difficulty with this question is it looks for minimum levels of care rather than optimum.
My wife’s parents worked, and the kids came home well before they arrived.
And at the same time
There were 8 children, plus two babcias, so rather than a minimum standard a rich family life cared for the kids.
 
I too was left home alone from about age 8 on up. Usually for short periods of time, but sometimes longer. Even though I was a responsible kid and didn’t do anything I shouldn’t have, dealing with possible intruders, or a fire or some other emergency, I can’t imagine doing that with a child now.

Also, times have changed. I think there are actually laws against leaving your child home below a certain age, and it was older than I expected.
 
It will vary by child, of course.

For my kids, leaving them at home alone when they were in middle school wasn’t of concern. By the time they hit high school, either me or my husband were always there. That is when most kids get pregnant, you know (after school, and before the parents get home).
 
Taking care of a young sibling at age 11 or 12 doesn’t seem outrageous, as long as a) it’s for a few hours, not the whole day; b) the child is paid for his or her labor; and c) the child’s maturity, environment, neighbor availability, etc are conducive to doing so. Taking care of oneself in the house at age 9 or 10 doesn’t seem bad to me, again as long as it isn’t for too much time, the kid’s pretty mature, and the environment is safe.
 
BlueMantle said:
I think there are actually laws against leaving your child home below a certain age, and it was older than I expected
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This is also what I’d be concerned about. If, God forbid, anything happened needing police or first responder assistance, and they found a violation of some child supervision law, you could be looking at a child neglect prosecution.

If you’re within the bounds of the applicable law then it depends on the maturity of the child. Also, take basic safety into account, as there have been cases of child abduction that targeted homes where kids were home alone.
 
In my very early school years Mom was always home but by the time I was in 6th grade she had a part time job that meant she was not often home before 5. I do know that at one time they knew I would be terrified to arrive home to an empty house, so would have a well known neighbor stay there in case I got home before they did. I was probably about 12 before I was completely comfortable coming home to an empty house. Interestingly, none of us kids had keys because even if Mom and Dad were out the doors were never locked.
 
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I hope you’re being sarcastic! I had my own apartment at 18! There’s got to be a little bit of a grace period in there between complete supervision and adulthood!
 
My parents started to leave me alone for short periods of time during the day when I was 9.

It really depends on where you live, some areas are safer that others.
 
Where I live, there are not any laws. It’s sort of on a “as long as nothing happens” basis. That has been called into question alot recently as parents have been caught leaving toddlers alone and there technically isn’t a law against it except for an ambiguous “providing appropriate supervision” definition of neglect. I suspect that will change before long though.
 
I always thought it was 11, but in Washington state, the guideline is a suggested 10 years. However, I note that a Canadian mother lost custody of her 6 year old son after leaving him alone for 90 minutes, and still hasn’t regained it. Too much government, IMO.
 
You also have to consider the kid—a mopey teenager with issues will need an adult in the home more than a cheerful, responsible 10 year old.
 
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