Apaige Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 How many people have left their child/children home alone to run simple 30min-1 hour errands? My son is 12 years old, I am considering this...of course I would only be a few miles away, and only (at the most) will leave for an hour. I've looked at state laws, and there are not any required ages listed. There is a suggested age of 12 here in the state of New Jersey...I am curious b/c of my ex husband, and what he will have to say about it. My son is very mature for his age, and I'd never leave him home alone if I was going to be over an hour, nor would I leave him if I was going more than 15 min. away. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
ASG Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I don't have kids myself, but the first time I was left alone for an hour or so I was maybe... 8? From Age 10 I was definitely left unsupervised often. Age 14 was the first overnight home alone. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
amaysngrace Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 How many people have left their child/children home alone to run simple 30min-1 hour errands? My son is 12 years old, I am considering this...of course I would only be a few miles away, and only (at the most) will leave for an hour. I've looked at state laws, and there are not any required ages listed. There is a suggested age of 12 here in the state of New Jersey...I am curious b/c of my ex husband, and what he will have to say about it. My son is very mature for his age, and I'd never leave him home alone if I was going to be over an hour, nor would I leave him if I was going more than 15 min. away. Is there a neighbor near by that he can call in case of an emergency? I left my kids alone for a bit at that age but only with an emergency contact and only during the daytime. I live in NJ too. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author Apaige Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Yes, we live in a neighborhood of 20 other homes, and our next door neighbor is always home. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
xxoo Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I babysat at 12. I left my oldest home alone younger than that for quick errands. 7 Link to post Share on other sites
rester Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 FWIW, I came home alone after school for a few hours starting around 10 or 11. I did have neighbors' houses I could go to in an emergency. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 For an hour, while you are local, I think your 12 year old will be fine. My neighbors used to leave their kids. It was no big deal. It was a long time ago, but I was a latch key kid since the age of 10. I got home from school at 3. Sometimes there would be no parent home until after 8 & they were an hour away. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
mrs rubble Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 If your son is mature no problem. Where I live it's illegal to leave a child under 14 home alone. My youngest son was a real handful, he would run away from school, push all the boundries and I often found he was home alone (without my consent)aged 12. Our local police were aware of my predicament and never ever charged me as they knew I was doing everything I could to keep the tyke on the straight and narrow, they even used to go to my house sometimes while I was at work, pick up my son and drop him off at school. As long as you're not neglecting your child, there should be no repercussions. Link to post Share on other sites
whichwayisup Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 How many people have left their child/children home alone to run simple 30min-1 hour errands? My son is 12 years old, I am considering this...of course I would only be a few miles away, and only (at the most) will leave for an hour. I've looked at state laws, and there are not any required ages listed. There is a suggested age of 12 here in the state of New Jersey...I am curious b/c of my ex husband, and what he will have to say about it. My son is very mature for his age, and I'd never leave him home alone if I was going to be over an hour, nor would I leave him if I was going more than 15 min. away. If you feel your ex H will react to this badly, don't do it. It's not worth having to deal with his venom for hours on end. Ask a neighbour to come over and watch him or send your son to a friends house. If your ex H was more normal and didn't have such explosive anger outbursts, I'd suggest it's OK to leave your son home for an hour or so during the day. Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Don't have kids... but when I was 12, I was alone at home for several hours at a time. It was totally fine, the neighbour SAHM would look out for me a bit, and we lived in a decent neighbourhood. Also my parents were considered overprotective - my friends were usually alone at home at 8 or 9 years old. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
SJS Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 At the beginning of this school year, we started leaving our 10 year old home alone one or two days a week for about 30 min after school. My street is full of kids all about the same age and we're all doing this together, and the kids know to come over or call if there are any problems, parents keep an eye out making sure they get on/off the bus, etc. There is one 10 year old who spends hours home alone. All he does is play video games, so his mom's reasoning is he doesn't know if she's there or not anyway, he'd be busy either way...(not sure I fully agree with that). I think a mature 12 year old should be able to handle it. I was babysitting by the time I was 12. Link to post Share on other sites
coryreply Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Have you considered calling your ex and just running it by him before you do it? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author Apaige Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Have you considered calling your ex and just running it by him before you do it? The last month of school, I had no choice but to leave him home for 30 minutes alone until I got home from work b/c the after school program had ended; my Ex H, was not at all happy about this when he found out, but he didn't offer to help out at all either. I did what I had to do. My next door neighbor knew this and kept an eye out for him, also had him come to her house often. I allowed my son to stay after school this past week to watch a boys BBALL game being held in the gym, ( I live 1 mile up the street, and my son had his cell) and EX H had a fit...he called me hooting and hollering about this...So, I just wanted to get a poll and see if I am the only one that feels that 12 is a good age to start introducing the children into responsible roles. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
contact1 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Sounds like you EX is just trying to find any excuse to make your life harder. Hell I use to have walk alone a few miles to go from my mom's house to my dad's (they were separated) when I was just 8 years old, and this was through a bad neighborhood. As long as a neighbor knows and you feel your child is responsible enough to be on their own for a bit, it should be perfectly fine. If your ex gives you any beef about it, tell them to come on over and watch the child if it is so important to them, watch how quickly it will turn into a "I can't leave work/any other bs excuse" when it now inconveniences them. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
pink_sugar Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I was home alone by the time I was 11 while my dad went to meet clients or run around errands. Wasn't a big deal. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
IfWishesWereHorses Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 My son was pretty mature for his age and I left him at home in a safe secluded neighborhood with strict rules for about thirty minutes at a time one Saturday about three different times. We were actually moving cars back and forth so we were coming and going. It went fine; he did and has always followed rules to a tee. A few hours after we got home something happened that stayed with me a long time. It must have been just after Halloween and he ran into the kitchen fanning his mouth. I was standing right next to the sink where he approached me. I thought something was burning his tongue and grabbed a glass of water. By that time his face was turning blue and I realized he was choking! I did the Heimlich and out pops a fireball candy! Took years off my life! After that we added no eating at all to the list of rules and I taught him to do a self inflicted Heimlich should he ever need it! No other incidents I'm happy to report! I was baby sitting 9 hours a day at 12 during the summer and overnight by 14! Link to post Share on other sites
Gagirl Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 The Red Cross teaches babysitting classes starting at age 11 in my area. They teach children how to handle emergencies and basic skills. It's a good class. This way, you can leave you child at home to run errands, go to the movies and etc and no one can say anything about it since they are certified. It's really worth the time and money. Several of my friends have done the same thing and are quite happy with the results. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
preraph Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 I think it completely depends on how much trouble your child is inclined to get into and whether they can be relied on to follow instructions. 12 should be okay, but I've encountered many 12-year-old boys when I was a kid who shouldn't have ever been without supervision because they were always trying to get into trouble or abuse a sibling or something like that. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
SJS Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 The Red Cross teaches babysitting classes starting at age 11 in my area. They teach children how to handle emergencies and basic skills. It's a good class. This way, you can leave you child at home to run errands, go to the movies and etc and no one can say anything about it since they are certified. It's really worth the time and money. Several of my friends have done the same thing and are quite happy with the results. Our hospital does this 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Otter2569 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Go for it! Make sure they have your cell number and be sure and check in on them (for your piece of mind). I started doing the same thing with my kids at about that age and would call every so often just to let them know I was available for them. I am sure they didn't care since they were watching movies or playing video games. Not like when we wee kids where you'd raid your old mans playboy collection and drink a beer or start a fire in the back yard LOL Link to post Share on other sites
lindsay91313 Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I would say go for it, if there's a neighbor that can keep an eye out nearby, even better. I was left home alone for the first time when I was 7 or 8 and watched my younger sister who is two years younger. We would also get left overnight occasionally when I was about 10...I think I turned out ok lol I started babysitting around 10 also so I think 12 is old enough. Link to post Share on other sites
turnera Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 As long as kids have access to other adults or you, 12 is perfectly capable of being alone. Hell, kids are having SEX at 12. Link to post Share on other sites
Arieswoman Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 OP, I don't know what the law is where you are, but in here in UK https://www.gov.uk/law-on-leaving-your-child-home-alone Link to post Share on other sites
Shepp Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 My parents would nip out and leave me from about 10, and at 11 I would walk home from school and have about an hour to wait before my brother and his girlfriend got home from school. But I lived on a cottage on a farm - the farmhouse was literally 3mins walk, they were/are like second parents to me and their son was my best mate so I wasn't really alone alone.... plus there was always people about on the farm, most of who I knew. I know I wouldn't let my kids be alone quite as early as that because we live in a totally different situation - i'm actually only 5mins walk down a track from the villiage where I've got tons of family an friends but our house literally is in the woods, the garden slopes right down to a lake and half the house is raised up on stilts!! Its just a totally different environment. That said 12 Is - a man some places! I don't believe your kids can fully grow up unless you give them room to grow. Link to post Share on other sites
PrettyEmily77 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 No kids of my own but I was left home alone for up to an hour every week day after school from 8. Didn't traumatise me one bit; if anything, I quite enjoyed it. I knew how to reach my parents in case of an emergency (I remember rehearsing a few times with my dad on the phone) and knew to go to the neighbours; I never had to though, in all the years I was left alone in the house. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts