Should it be illegal to leave a child home alone under 12 years old?
A YouGov poll of parents found that two thirds want the government to set a minimum age limit to leave children home alone.
Most say that the current situation, in which families judge for themselves when it is safe to leave a child, is inadequate.
Should leaving a child under 12 at home should be made a criminal offence? What is your experience and what are your views?
What are your views on this?
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I have a 20 year old daughter who was left alone up to the age of 6 whilst her parents went out drinking and she still suffers as a result.. Before some of you jump up and start shouting the odds that I shouldn't of left her the fact is I didn't.. I'm her adopted father, social services intervention, abandonment issues, attachment issues.. Glad to say she's turning the negatives back into positives, she's studying to become a mental health nurse now, with a view to helping young people with similar starts to her.. This world where children grow up quickly but 12 is a little bit to quick..
Having been on one side a 2 parent family and used childcare as needed that worked well but was costly. When my partner and I split and he stated he would no longer be my babysitter I was left with a host of issues, working a distance from home, away working and now no back up. I approached work for flexible working from home it was declined. Acrimony between my ex and I meant he used every opportunity to claim I left my 10 and 12 year old alone for approx 1-2 hours before I got home in the evening, had police and social workers call and due to stress I gave up my work. The police were horrid, social work were led by his comments yet no one ever could say my children were in danger or not capable of self sufficiency for the 1-2 hours. Yet since them female police have advised that children could be left alone without issue at that age and as clearly capable. I approached council, social work for guidance on child care service for those over age 12 there are none. It was a horrific time. I don't wish that on any mother and be clear the majority of child care responsibility lies with the mother.
Now 4 years on I agree there should be a minimum age I also would struggle to say 12 should be the age limit. Or that I would be prepared to stand in judgement of any mother in her choice which will ultimately be cost and affordability driven. And other malicious factors may contribute to who objects and their reasons for doing so.
The problem arises when something unexpected happens. A fire for instance. Many kids of that age will panic and not know what to do. Because they have panicked.
❇
What duration ?day or night ?Any local adult to contact if required ?
It is the responsibility of the parent/parents to advise & ensure the child is aware they follow the rules & earn there independence.This takes Time & there are no short cuts!
All children require tuition in life skills & this is the responsibility of the parent. Simple everyday tasks,cost Nil ,only Time!
Invest in your child & they reap the benefit.
I still cannot understand why the parents were not charged with leaving the kids alone!
One was 'alledgedly' snatched, so let them off?
I have never thought the kid was taken while they were out...
A) The child wasn't snatched, but was disposed of earlier.
B) Whether the kid was snatched or not, the parents should NOT have left the kids unattended.
C) Because the kids WERE left unattended and one went missing that they should STILL be charged. After all, if the kids had NOT been left unattended, IF one was snatched, they wouldn't have been snatched!
D) Would we even be discussing this if the same thing had happened in Scunthorpe and the house had burned down killing all the children left inside?
I think NOT!
It would be world wide condemnation of the parents leaving the children to fend for themselves..
You could also have used the phrase' in theory'. As that is all it is even when there are adults there with them.
The fact remains that there are some twelve year olds who ARE responsible and show maturity, but there are a greater number that don't.
My niece is nearly thirty with two kids of her own. Yet I STILL wouldn't call her 'mature'. She isn't 'slow' or anything, just bloody immature.
Lets just be sensible and make a decision on if the child is sensible to be left by the parents, they are the ones that know there children best.
My child will be walking to school soon - before even hitting 11
Well done!
In our case, the reason we walked to school was because we were a single parent family, without a car, all three kids were 'reasonably' sensible, well we were as a unit 🙂 and even the furthest away school was only a twenty minute walk. Oh, and of course 90% of kids back in the 70s and 80s ALL either walked or cycled to school.
I cannot believe now a days how empty the roads are at school time when the kids are on holiday!
I had another one a few weeks later. Didn't know if it was another random call or the same guy 🙂
It's worth noting, at 11 most children will start secondary School & for the first time have to get the bus, train, walk by themselves - they will probably even be given a house key. If you vote Yes for this, you are basically saying that an 11 year old at secondary School needs a child minder? Your child will hate you!!!
In all seriousness though, I strongly feel we need to stop wrapping up our children in cotton wool and start making them Worldly wise from a younger age. Some of my 12 year old Daughters friends, at Secondary School have not got a clue because they have never done anything for themselves & even now get collected from School by their Mom in the 4 x 4. How does this help a child become a savvy, knowledgeable teen/adult? & more to the point - how will they ever notice danger or know how to react in an unsafe situation?
Of course, I would not ever dream of leaving a 5 year old at home alone, but as a child nears double figures I personally feel we should have taught them enough & made them aware enough to be left alone for a short period.
Some 15 year olds are not!!!
It depends on the child.
Are we going to prosecute every adult who leaves a child alone to go down the road to buy a pint of milk.
It would be perfectly legal to send the child for the milk but is it safe to do so?
The current law is fine
If you keep them all on a short reign they'll never learn...
We three kids were all taught to look after ourselves from an early age because our divorced mom had to go to work. She would use the single lady next door to babysit on the seldom occasion that she had a night out. If Betty couldn't be there when mom left, then I'd babysit until she arrived. Occasionally I'd babysit by myself.
I don't think you can have a blanket law fairly covering all children as children mature at different rates and ages, and I don't just mean girls earlier than boys.
The McCanns weren't prosecuted, and their kids were even younger!