Comments on: The Path to Home Alone

By: rjga

rjga — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:43:13 +0000

I have a friend with 4 children. She actually called the police and asked how old a child has to be to be left at home alone. She explained to the police that she wanted to be sure that if something bad happened to that child left alone, Dept of Family Services wouldn’t take away her other children. Seems extreme, but helpful. BTW, the answer (in PA) is 9 yrs to be home alone. 12 yrs if they are watching other children.

By: RuthWells

RuthWells — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:33:37 +0000

We are going AWOL on the 11 & 13-year-olds for a few hours on Saturday evening. Second time ever. Pray for us!

By: Tracie in Florida

Tracie in Florida — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:28:42 +0000

Oh, how I long for the relative simplicity of those days in my own family, having now moved into a new phase of risk assessment calculations:

Do the benefits of allowing younger child to ride in the car with older child to see X movie, at night, clear across town, in an area known to attract thugs and other potentially dangerous weirdos outweigh the risks associated with said car ride (to wit: flat tires, carjackers, deer in the road, crazed texting teenaged drivers,potential terrorist attacks, and/or other dangers I’ve not yet heard of).

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:19:21 +0000

Emily, I don’t even HAVE kids and I was pondering this very question just the other day. Are there state laws that mandate these sorts of things now? I genuinely don’t know. I was trying to remember when my parents left me alone. I was babysitting OTHERS’ kids by 12, so I know it was before then. I think they may have employed a similar approach as you: incrementally increased the time, locked the door behind me, and made me promise that I wouldn’t answer the door for any strangers. But then again, I didn’t have siblings and was born 40 years-old, so…

By: MelanieO

MelanieO — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:13:24 +0000

Depends on the infraction, and you’re right about the death spiral. My mother used to pay me to watch my sisters, who are 2 and 4 years younger. It worked well until the time they ran up and down two staircases while throwing sharpened sticks at each other (great sitter, wasn’t I?), culminating with a stab wound above my little sister’s eye that required stitches. The punishment for the inflictee was perfect: she couldn’t do anything that the inflicted couldn’t do because of her stitches, including swimming during the entire month of August. I wasn’t punished for letting them create weapons, however; I think Mom knew that could have just as easily happened on her watch.

I hope this won’t give you nightmares, Em!