A relatively interesting debate for parents of youngish children has arisen over the last few days. This guy was prosecuted for leaving his kid in the car for five minutes while he popped into the pharmacy.
Now, for various reasons, I ended up leaving my eldest boy (10 years old) on his own in the house for about 10 minutes. It was either that or drag him off for an hour-and-a-half to sit around while his younger brother played footie. I knew my wife would turn up within 15 minutes but still felt a little nevous about leaving him on his own.
Anyway, he started assuring me that he was old enough and mature enough to be left alone for a short while. So, with his assurances (“dad, it’s another step on growing up” were his exact words) and my wife saying it’d be fine, I left him and took his brother to said football.
What was I told when I got back? In the 10 minutes he was alone he had gotten some frozen fish out and put it in the microwave for 30 minutes! Thank goodness it wasn’t on full power - but that was luck more than judgement.
Eleven was the magic age for me to let them out unsupervised, wherever. Up until that point the kids would play in the street. By this point, they had phones on them and while I feel a little guilty for keeping them away from the wider world, I feel it was appropriate for where we were living at the time.
Well, this is it, isn’t it? What happens between year 6 (last year at primary school) and year 7 (first year at secondary school) that means kids suddenly have the responsibility and autonomy to get themselves to school and generally look after themselves?
Does something happen over that summer that means they suddenly have the ability to get themselves to school etc?
We have taken to sending our boys to the local shop occasionally to get milk and a newspaper. We give them some money and send them off. They have to cross one, moderately busy road. Is this mad irresponsibility on our part? Should we be arrested? Could we be arrested?
Depends massively on the child and how the parents have parented, location also is important
My son took the bus alone to Kindergarten when he was 3, OK, so its a bus specially for the kids but, the self confidence and independence they learn from such “adventures” sets them up pretty good.
He has been going out on his own since he was 6 or 7, but then we live in a small village where everyone knows each other.
I think I was around 13 or 14 when my parents used to leave my brother and I alone in the house. I did used to play outside unsupervised all day long when we lived in London from the age of about 6 or 7 and at the age of 8 or so used to walk several miles from our house to the Imperial War Musuem, often on my own!
Same for me - my parents were quite happy for me to carry on around the village getting up to all sorts of no good, but wouldn’t leave me unsupervised in the house until I was much older. I could never understand that - I was getting in to far more trouble in far more dangerous situations outside than I could ever have managed in the house.
In work I have been quoting the NSPCC guidelines for years to parents as there is no real legislation. If something happens to your kids whilst unsupervised you could find yourself in trouble. Little surprised re 2 yr old in a car for 5 mins. But you’d have to ask the police and CPS why it was pursued?
NSPCC suggest children aged 13-15 can be left on their own for a short period and as someone above mentioned they often walk to secondary school at 11. So maybe NSPCC need to revise it.
