Age isn't everything when deciding if a child is ready to be home alone

[Jilly_in_VA]

School is back in session, bringing new routines — and new milestones for students.

For some, this is the year they are allowed to go home to an empty house instead of an after-school program or day care. It’s a decision faced by many parents whose work or other obligations keep them from coming home until long past school release time.

With after-school care often expensive and hard to find, parents have reason to encourage independence. But how can they be sure their child is ready to navigate home on their own, even if only for an hour or two?

A handful of states have set age minimums. Maryland law, for example, makes it a crime to leave a child younger than 8 years old unattended.

But most states leave it up to parents and guardians. Experts say between 11 and 13 years old can be a good starting point, but stress there’s more to the equation than age. And they say what’s right for one child may not be for another, even within a family.

“It’s not a one-size-fits-all ordeal. And you really have to take it and understand the bigger picture,” said Jaesha Quarrels, director of child care services at Oklahoma Human Services. “Inadequate supervision is a key factor in many preventable childhood injuries and neglect cases.”

https://apnews.com/article/kids-home-alone-age-a1e8edde557e8c5b437699dd93ec5c8a

Plus there are Karens in the neighborhood who will call the cops, etc. How old were you when you started being left home alone, or being a latchkey kid?

[JustAnotherGen]

1. For an hour by myself?

9. I would get the bus some mornings on my own. But I was babysitting at 12. Trained, CPR, etc etc.

When I was 17 my parents left me home overnight - always just one night - when work travel overlapped. But I'd often stay at an Aunt and Uncle's house that was 5 minutes from my high school. My own choice.

I loved Auntie Boot and Uncle Doug!

[IbogaProject]

2. NY has two standards

Kids beyond fifth grade are expected to be able to navigate to and from school independently. And the standard for other situations is based on can you reasonably expect they can take care of themselves and the other kids under their supervision. There is a lot of case law about it, so it isn't ok to leave your kid home alone and go out to a bar or a party, but it is ok to either go to the deli or send them. Again this is restricted to if you can reasonably feel they can be safe in what ever scenario you leave them in. I live in Midtown Manhattan and my Wife really pushed ahead compared to everyone else getting our son independent as he rose through middle school. She did it in small incremental steps. In about 3rd, maybe late 2nd grade we signed a release to allow him off the bus without us there to get him. His stop was on the same block and allowed him to get home without crossing any streets. The bus driver literally asked me what that release was, as she had never seen it in 6 or 7 years of service. I explained it was to make her life easier not having to deal with us chasing the bus or her having to fill out a report and dump the kid with the police, which is the NYC policy if an adult doesn't pick the kid up.

[pansypoo53219]

3. grade schoiol 1/2 block away to homa + watch tv or go to grandparents 3 houses closer.

i have NO MEMORY of doing lunch in grade school. not til 4th grade. free range. i walked 2 blocks to corner store to buy hot pics.

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. In my neighborhood in the 1950s

it was common for parents to "phone sit" for each other once the oldest kid reached 12 or so (as long as there were no really small children in the house) when the parents went out for the evening. The kids could be left alone and the other parents would be available if something serious were to happen. As I recall, nothing ever did,

I walked to school by myself, anywhere from 2 to 6 blocks, from the time I was in kindergarten, once my mother showed me the way. My kindergarten elementary school was in theUniversity district of Lincoln, NE, and we lived on a busy street, so my mother paid an eighth grader who lived in the building next door to "cross" me in the morning because she was busy with my younger brothers,. She would come out and "cross" me when I came home at noon. I remember going to the store for mom three and a half blocks away from the time I was in about third grade. She wouldn't let me go before then because there wasn't a traffic light on that street, but that was the year they put one up because the year before a boy I knew from school had been hit by a car at that intersection and hurt quite badly.