What age to leave a child 'home alone'?

[orlakeilyhandbag]

I have been thinking about this for a while and am quite interestd in peoples current views on this issue as I think they have changed since I was a child. I am curious to know what fellow 'forumites' think about this. For example at what age would you leave a child unattended at home and for how long? What do people think?

[Ondine]

All depends on the kid and how they feel about being left. I have a 10 yr old who sometimes demands to be left alone for a bit and at other times hates the idea of being home alone.

[elderflower]

It is absolutely illegal to leave any child under the age of 16 at home alone. That includes popping down the shops, after school and overnight. That is the national rule and what social services works by. I don't think many people are aware of it but if anything happens (accidents, fires, break ins etc) to your child in your home whilst alone and they are under 16 the law is designed to enable social services to remove the child from your care until investigated. Of course there are scores of teenagers at home alone after school as no one is seriously going to pay a minder or nanny to look after a 15 yr old

[Pickle]

Is that true Elderflower? I've got very young children so had no idea that was the case.

I took a local 14 year old to hospital a week or so ago after she'd had an accident in her house - she lives quite a way from me but I was the first person she found at home when she knocked on doors down the street (bleeding and very distressed). Her Mum was at work and it took me 3 hours to contact her, and it bought home to me just how vulnerable a young teenager can be.

I'm sure during school holidays it's very common for teenagers to be home alone, but honestly didn't think it was illegal.

[orlakeilyhandbag]

I have just looked on www.direct.gov website and it is NOT illegal to leave a child under the age of 16 at home alone for short periods of time. It does appear to be illegal to leave them alone overnight, however.

[dollydaydream]

Apparently if you google how old can a child be left on its own? Then there is no age limit. The NSPCC suggests not to leave a child alone under 12years in the day or no child under 16 years to be left alone overnight, but it is an offence to leave a child alone if it places them at risk.

[Belle]

I always thought it was 12. I guess like lots of things the judgement call (leaving aside how the state sees it) should be based on the individual child/teenager.

[elderflower]

Sorry but it is true. Its the social services rule policy according to how they deem whether a child has been neglected and the guardian is at fault. Like I said, its not something that is enforced for common sense use but if people take a situation too far then it can be used in court against a parent. I think the most common use is for when parents leave older children in charge of younger children (say 14 year old looking after a 6 yr old) then the law would be enforced and the children taken away on the basis of neglect of parental duty.

Pickle, if it was a different borough or if the A&E department had been aware of you not being a friend or family member of the 14 yr old then social services should have been called and the situation investigated as the child did not have an appropriate adult to call in an emergency and leaving a wounded child to knock on strangers doors and a mother who could not be contacted for 3 hours is not deemed responsible.

I would like to add I am not a social worker but was called upon to look at some possible child neglect cases many months ago and social services play a dirty game. Like parents are rarely aware of what the official legal requirements and guidlines for parental care and duty are to a child. This left to an individuals reasoning can differ greatly to what the guidelines are and this is used to take children away from parents. Due to the children's act if there is any suspected abuse or negligence then the ss can take your child and you have no rights. I think they get dirty because they have no obligation to read you your rights, where your child is going or what they will do. They have 24 hours to obtain a ruling from a judge placing the child in their care. That is the bit where they argue the child is neglected because the parents weren't home and couldn't be contacted. Its dark stuff and they don't always get it right.

[trinity]

elderflower Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It is absolutely illegal to leave any child under

> the age of 16 at home alone.

elderflower Wrote:

> Sorry but it is true

This is not true. There is no law stating that you can not leave any child under the age of 16 at home alone.

[annaj]

"There is no legal age limit for leaving a child on their own"

[The Nappy Lady]

I always thought children were allowed to babysit (fir a sleeping child usually) from 14 years old - I certainly used to, though Mum was on call 4 doors away should I need her.

My feeling is that common sense should rule here, some children are far more capable than others. I hope social services use 16 as a guideline rather than a blanket judgement.

M

[elderflower]

I know what is deemed legal in court and when you are in trouble that is what is going to count.

Its called upon when there is an accident or purposeful injury so if a child hurts another child or a child lacks the maturity to care for themselves as an adult.

The incidents I've covered included two minor teenagers who were left to look after an 11 year old child whilst their mother was at work. They got out of hand and pressed a hot iron against the eleven year olds face. The children were sentenced and the parents were charged with negligence. That is the kind of incidence where the ruling would be put to use. Not sensible after schoolers.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Elderflower, you are jrussel's sister and I claim my ?5.

[sb]

.

[VictoriaSmith]

Hi orlakeilyhandbag! I am a single mother and I have a daughter who is now 12 years old. For about an hour she is left home alone since I am still at work by the time she gets home from school. I just started leaving her home alone this year since she insisted not to be babysat anymore. And she is already responsible enough that?s why I allowed her to be home alone. I don?t worry that much of her safety since I registered her to SafeKidZone which allows her to summon for help and ask for an immediate response if there was an emergency situation. This is the protection I provided my child: http://safekidzone.com/

[BB100]

As Elderflower says, there's no law until something goes wrong, then SS can deem you negligent. The police can also call in SS if you leave your children alone with someone you haven't police checked and something goes wrong - even if they are a family friend. I know this to be true from a very recent experience of a friend

[Curmudgeon]

elderflower Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It is absolutely illegal to leave any child under

> the age of 16 at home alone. That includes popping

> down the shops, after school and overnight. That

> is the national rule and what social services

> works by. I don't think many people are aware of

> it but if anything happens (accidents, fires,

> break ins etc) to your child in your home whilst

> alone and they are under 16 the law is designed to

> enable social services to remove the child from

> your care until investigated. Of course there are

> scores of teenagers at home alone after school as

> no one is seriously going to pay a minder or nanny

> to look after a 15 yr old

You're wrong

There is no age specified it depends on the child

[prickle]

VictoriaSmith Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi orlakeilyhandbag! I am a single mother and I

> have a daughter who is now 12 years old. For about

> an hour she is left home alone since I am still at

> work by the time she gets home from school. I just

> started leaving her home alone this year since she

> insisted not to be babysat anymore. And she is

> already responsible enough that?s why I allowed

> her to be home alone. I don?t worry that much of

> her safety since I registered her to SafeKidZone

> which allows her to summon for help and ask for an

> immediate response if there was an emergency

> situation. This is the protection I provided my

> child: http://safekidzone.com/

I clicked on this link and its an American web site - are you sure this is the one you use?

[Growlybear]

I checked this with the Child Protection Officer at the local authority where I work a few years ago because I was concerned about a child in my daughter's class when she was at primary school who was left on their own at home on a very regular basis. I was told categorically that there is NO age limit for leaving a child alone. However, if something should happen to a child whilst they were on their own, their parent/guardian would be likely to be charged with neglect if they were deemed to be of an age where they should not have been left alone.

[kf]

As far as I know as long as the child is 12 you are o.k. to leave them. And the age to babysit is still 14.

[vinceayre]

There is no age limit on leaving your child at home alone. If though your child comes to harm you will be prosecuted for neglect and SS may take the child from you if you are deemed to pose a risk of neglect in the future.

Both my kids are left on their own at times and i feel it benefits them, we started by just 10 minutes and then slowly moved it up from there. With my daughter she was about 11years and my son was 10.

[simonethebeaver]

My stepdaughter is 11 and is occasionally left alone for short periods. She is at secondary school and too 'old' for childminders/afterschool clubs - there's a big gap here for working parents. She mostly spends her time after school in the library doing her homework and gets picked up there with her younger brother who is at an afterschool club nearby, but she has keys to the house and as it gets colder and darker, we are encouraging her to go home before we can pick her up if she wants to.

By the way, the school said that she should go home on her own, and it's clearly what most of her classmates do (as did I at her age).

[Keef]

Just this morning at work, we've been sent the new London Child Protection Procedures, 4th Edition (Dec 2010).

5.26 Left alone

5.26.1 The law is not clear because it does not state an age when children can be left alone. However, parents can be prosecuted for wilful neglect if they leave a child unsupervised ?in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health? (Children and Young Persons Act, 1933).

5.26.2 Nor does the law state an age when young people can baby-sit. However, where a baby-sitter is under the age of 16 years, parents remain legally responsible to ensure that their child comes to no harm.

5.26.3 This is, in part, in recognition that all children are different and demonstrate different levels of maturity and responsibility.

5.26.4 In any situation where a child is left alone, consideration should be given to the context (e.g. the ages, needs and maturity of the children, the length of time involved, the frequency of such incidents, the safety of the location and any other relevant factors). Having taken into account the circumstances above, the key question to ask is was the child left to their own fate?

You can find the full CP document here, but it's a long old document!

[trinity]

Thanks Keef - that's useful and clear!

[charlottep]

An article on this on the BBC website today:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12380329