Would you ever leave a 15 yo home overnight?

My parents left me for a fortnight when I was 15 or 16, on the condition that I had a sensible friend to stay. I had my friend Neil for the first week and my friend Natalie for the second week. I had a job so I was going to that. Nothing bad happened and I didn't do anything stupid. It depends on the kid, doesn't? My aunt left home at 16. The idea that a 15, nearly 16 year old is by definition incapable of looking after themselves for a couple of nights seems silly to me - obviously there are some kids you definitely couldn't trust at that age (and likely my 10 yo son will be one of them, but then he's autistic and has ADHD and is quite immature) but if you trust your kid I think it's fine.

Can you leave her on condition that her dad drops in to check on her at least once? She might be scared, she might have a party, she might sneak a boyfriend in, it depends on what sort of 15 year old she is.

Each to their own but i wouldn’t like it (even at 16) & wouldn’t do it

A 16 year^ old^ couldn't cope on their own and would forget to lock up?

Assuming no SEN, why on earth aren't you teaching them?

Same

This is Mumsnet where people will tell you you’re crazy for leaving anyone under 16 alone, but then when they turn 16 they should immediately be moving out and getting a job and they are no longer the parents responsibility

Normally I'd say no, but I think as she would almost be 16 and Dad is round the corner it's ok. I think Dad should check on her in evening just to make sure she is ok.

What are parents doing to the next generation

@whenlifegivesyoulemonssuckonthem It all depend on the child. My parents went on holiday for a week when I was 15, everything was fine. My DS is abit daft though, he’s less mature than his sister (18) was at the same age. So we think he needs another year. Some kids are more mature than others. 🤷

@whenlifegivesyoulemonssuckonthem says! I worked 'the season' in Cornwall when I was just 16 for 5mths and had a ball. Went to India for 8ths when I was 17/18 - brilliant experience. A year in Australia at 18 - no mobile phones then but I survived and had a bloody great time.
My kids have the same freedom.

I would. At 16 my DD could be leaving home to go to a high school in a different town so would be sensible to build up to complete independence by allowing overnights at 15.
I'd warn about the risks of inviting a couple of friends and it getting out of control though.

Yes, I did. No problems, just take away debris! My daughter had a couple of friends over, they were absolutely fine. She's 24 now, great job, lovely partner, well travelled, mortgage on their first home .... she turned out well

Yup. My DS was 15 the first time I left him overnight to go to a different city for a concert.
Then I left him for 3 nights to go to a different country when he was 16 for the first time.

Oh and we had no family or close friends locally either. I asked my neighbour to keep an eye on him, but that was more to let me know if there were any gatherings/parties in my house while I was away!🤣

At 16.5 I went to university the opposite end of the country (accelerated two years in high school).

At 17.5 my parents put me on a plane to the US for a years exchange - days before mobile phones and the internet - they didn't hear from me for a few days until I sorted out a phone card and after that it was one phone call every Saturday morning.

The idea that a 15 year old cannot left over night is beyond me.... and as for a 17 year old only being left for one night..........

What are parents doing to the next generation

Yes. But then I was living alone at 16 and my mum regularly travelled abroad when I was 14/15 as she didn’t want to pay for me to come

Given that Dad is round the corner and sounds like Grandparents are close I suspect any emergency would be dealt with.

Perhaps an opportunity to teach about the emergencies she needs to be prepared for, like knowing where the stopcock is.

I would and have with my 15 year old. I told them (and did) give a spare key to the house to grandparents and told them they would be popping in unannounced during the time. I also called twice a day. Nothing happened, my child was fine, no friends over. You know your child best op

I would not leave someone who was still legally a child home alone overnight. If that makes me a mollycoddler I'm ok with that. Rather be safe than sorry.

It's fine, I used to house sit for friends and relatives at that age!

You clearly trust her and she sounds sensible

Is it one night or more? I might consider for one night depending on her experience staying on her own and how close relatives/ neighbours are.
At this age I stayed a few times at home for one night but I stayed A LOT on my own during the day and evenings since early age due to family circumstances and was generally very sensible (I could even say boring ) and we had very good neighbours next to us. I was allowed to invite one friend , no more.
On the one of the nights things actually went wrong as a drunk relative of our other new neighbour arrived late at night and started knocking to us. His relative was at night shift so no one at home but this person didn’t know and knocked to us trying to find out where his son was. It was quite a scary as obviously with him being drunk I and my friend couldn’t understand what he wanted over the door, and we didn’t know much about new neighbour. I called the other neighbour, she came and sorted it out . It was literally an unfortunate coincidence of an estrange father coming to sort out relationship exactly on the day of neighbour’s night shift and my parents being away. Tbh I felt a bit uneasy of staying late on my own for a bit after that, my friend was very scared and absolutely refused to come to mine even on the evenings again.

I used to stay home when my parents went on holiday from 14 as there were some I didn’t fancy doing. I didn’t burn the place down or get myself in trouble. I did get quite good at a few cake recipes though. Mostly I went to see friends during the day so hardly there anyway.

Which could happen if she was 17.
Honestly it depends,on the15 year old I would have happily left my just turned 17 gear old at that age but he's very sensible and would probably just stay in his room gaming on line .

No. I have a 16yo ds and I absolutely wouldn't leave him.

He'd forget to lock up, or leave the oven on or use his laptop in bed so it overheated. Definitely not.

Anyway, after the bravado had faded, he would be lonely and stressed.

We left DS (15) overnight a couple of months ago as he didn’t want to come with us. We let our neighbors (whom we’re close to) know and they agreed to help DS out if necessary. Everything was fine until my neighbor texted at 11p.m. to say that he thought that DS may have fallen asleep after letting the dog out in the back garden. I asked my neighbor to please use his key to let the dog in and check on DS…who was predictably fast asleep!

So that’s decided us that DS isn’t ready to be left yet. We might try again when he’s 16.

I agree

I can't believe some peoples reactions here. People live alone fully at age 16.. what harm is a 15 year old to come to for one night? Let your kids breathe ffs