What age for being home alone

[justanotherboymum]

Am wondering at what age do people tend to leave a child home alone if you are quickly driving to the shops (gone 10-15mins)?

I work in child protection I have given a reference which is neutral to my opinion. I feel the tone of the posts are accusing and disrespectful so no I am not going to waste my precious time arguing with fools.

I think that's ridiculous honestly. If your child can be out alone unsupervised then they can be home alone unsupervised as well.

It wouldn't need to be an argument if you could back up your statements. Because a mystery document apparently says so doesn't usually fly in child protection does it? It shouldn't be so hard for you to explain your opinion. Unless of course you just heard it once and ran with it?

Fire, burglary, asthma attacks, leaving ovens and such like on. Feeling frightened of the dark, noises etc. delivery drivers, floods from taps being left on, inappropriate screen use, loneliness etc

Yes, but are they necessarily more concerning than risks the child encounters when being out by himself or with friends? Accidents, injuries, getting lost, muggings, fights, bullying, vandalism, dares and pranks, substance use, inappropriate screen use (yes your child may not have a phone, but I bet some of his friends have an unlocked computer at home) Etc etc.
Believing that this never happens because one lives in a nice area and their perfect children only socialise with nice kids is very naive.

I believe there are some very small hamlets and villages that are extremely safe and quiet ( I live in one)
The concerns inside a home I have listed is an issue because the child may not know or recognise the danger or need to act. There won’t be adults driving by or walking past to step in and help like there might be outside.

Its fascinating seeing the British parents being considered lax for a change, as its usually how paranoid and over protective we are compared to "Europe".

Oh to be clear, I was not referring to you when I called some posters naive, Petrasings.
I also live in a safe, quiet village. Clearly less risky to let kids out unsupervised than downtown Detroit or something. But I still can't understand some poster's thinking who are happy to let kids roam around, but will apparently then get a babysitter for a 13-year old, if they want to pop to shops.

It's a shame it got so tetchy because I genuinely am interested in the rationale for thinking that being at home is less safe than outside because I really don't understand it

11yr old and not trusted to be alone for an hour ! God help when they start secondary school. You're being very dramatic, unless of course the 11yr olds are very very immature or have additional needs, etc.

I leave my 11 year old (y7) and 9 year old alone for 10 mins whilst I nip to the shop.

The 11 year old on his own is left for about an hour and a half until I get I from work. I wouldn't leave the 9 year old with him for the length of time, they'd up being silly together.

Funny, the only person being rude is you.

I found f the document. It's for Ukrainians moving to Irrland. It's very generic and gives the official age 14 thing but also is pretty clear that is the age ALL children are expected to be able to.stay home alone should be and that some children can stay younger. It also is not specific about when they can walk around safely without supervision.

Honestly, I think you havr got yourself confused re guidance and are .making.your life for more difficult than it needs to be.

@petrasings those are valid risks. But specific and ones children can specifically be trained for.

@Fluufer quite. Travelling safely alone to school is an important skill you teach kids in preparation for secondary school. And staying home alone for 15 minutes is safe at a much younger age. Some people seem to be so overprotective.

I have much older teens. I think time of day matters when they are younger, the season - is it dark? The location of the shops, the presence of observant and caring neighbours, general crime rates, nature and character of the child etc. Being safe is probably best, they all grow up and become independent eventually regardless.

Universal credit will not contribute towards wraparound care for children above primary age. So I guess the government is saying it's fine to leave them by then! Many will need to get themselves home and wait for parents to return from work.

You can claim for childcare for children up to age 16. The issue is that wrap around care just isn't available past primary school, my DS's secondary didn't have wrap around clubs.

At least 10.

You get NI credit for children up to 12 (in England at least, not sure about parts of UK).

DecafDodger · Yesterday 14:43

I find that really shocking.
You'd love Switzerand where kids are expected to walk to school alone from 4-5 years old. You will get letters from school how important it is for them to develop their independence

We do indeed love Switzerland. Were we resident, the letters would be ignored. There are dangers in beautiful places, too. The years between Y7 and sixth form are time aplenty to develop independence.

Probably about 8 for a few minutes, started working on walking home alone from school (building up in stages) aged 10 and she needed to walk home and let herself in for a couple of hours twice a week aged 11 in 5th class (due to bullying issues in afterschool club). She was happy to do that, and to increase it to 4 afternoons a week in final year of primary (6th class) aged 11. She is a happy, well adjusted 18 year old living in a different European country for uni.

On foot, think dd 1 was 7, but it was just 5 mins walk to the drs which had a dispensary and dd2 was at school, queue unlikely. By 9 I left them both to go to small shops like Tesco express for about 20 mins but again walking.