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Original poster

What age for First House Key?

102 replies

Lockdownbear · 08/04/2021 18:33

Thinking about a thread by an employer suggesting parents WFH can not be keeping an eye on their school aged kids and they should have childcare in place which to me is just nuts. I'm thinking back to days of old and the 'latch key' generation.

I got my key when I was 10, I can't imagine giving my 10yo a key. However he is more than capable of entertaining himself while I work. I just wouldn't trust him completely alone.

How old were you when you got your key and how old were your kids?

OP posts:
Mum2jenny · 08/04/2021 22:11

My dd was 10, but my parents didn’t ever lock the door so I never needed a key.

IReallyNeedMoreGin · 08/04/2021 22:36

My 9yo has a key. He's never on his own going to/from school but I'm getting him into good habits regarding locking/unlocking the door. He'll probably be seeing himself to and from school come September, if not, then definitely the year after when he starts comp.

Thepennyhasdroppedq · 08/04/2021 22:37

11 I think

JaceLancs · 08/04/2021 22:43

10 for me
11 for my DC as that’s when I went back to work full time (childcare didn’t exist much back then)

IReallyNeedMoreGin · 08/04/2021 23:21

@Elsielouise13

No keys for our kids. Biometric lock with code. They’ve been unlocking Yale since they could reach and remember the code.

Still not ‘enabled’ to come home without us but both under 14.

I've never heard of this before. 😳

Mentioned it to my DH who is now googling furiously and watching videos on how to install them. 😆

WeeBenny · 08/04/2021 23:48

My DS was 9 almost at the start of P6 he would walk home get something to eat then his dad was back in about an hr. Now at 12 he sometimes gets himself up and out to school too

BashfulClam · 08/04/2021 23:50

I was 8 and my brother was 10. My mum worked part time and my dad worked shifts. It was easier to have a key when he was on nightshift so we didn’t need him to get up and open the door.

firedog · 09/04/2021 00:12

We have a key safe so DC can use if needed. From age 10

firedog · 09/04/2021 00:14

OP what do you think he'd do?? All mine would do is find a screen to watch or play on

IncorrigibleTitmouse · 09/04/2021 00:19

I was 9, and used to walk younger siblings home and keep them alive till 5:30! DS was 11 when he started high school.

EveryDayIsADuvetDay · 09/04/2021 00:44

11 I think - coincided with moving house.
Back door was rarely locked anyway.

BlackeyedSusan · 09/04/2021 01:45

Me 7
Ds11
DD does not have a key. Only allowed two per flat.

Lollypop4 · 09/04/2021 10:12

My DM was a Sahm, we never had our own key as she was always home.
My DC were 11- when they went to high school

Original poster
Lockdownbear · 09/04/2021 10:29

@firedog

OP what do you think he'd do?? All mine would do is find a screen to watch or play on
On his own he'd be fine, lego and screens. If he ends up going out to play and bringing pals back 😬 I'd be a bit more concerned.
OP posts:
Original poster
Lockdownbear · 09/04/2021 10:31

By way that doesn't mean I don't trust his pals just kids unsupervised could easily end up doing really stupid things.

OP posts:
poppycat10 · 09/04/2021 10:43

When they need to let themselves in? My son started walking home from school in the summer of Y5 so he was 10. I was usually home though. I don't think he regularly had a key until he was a bit older.

rainbowthoughts · 09/04/2021 10:49

Mine never needed a key. By the time the eldest would have been ok to come home after school alone DH was disabled and medically retired. I cut my hours to care for him so there was always someone in the house.

My 18 year old has never used a key. He stays between here and his GF house but there is always someone here when he comes home. He was never out late at nights, through choice, so that was not an issue.

Eldest probably started using a key when she got her car at 17, she would stay out later than midnight(ish) which is when DH and I go to bed. Before that it just wasn't needed. She now gets up and goes to work before any of us are awake so uses the key a lot.

MiddleClassMother · 09/04/2021 10:49

When they are in Y6 to teach them responsibility, they won't really need it until high school though when they make their own way.

Love51 · 09/04/2021 10:52

@Georgyporky

8/9 - for both me & my son. Why leave it later?
Well if your mum is a childminder and therefore home, there wouldn't be a need! I'm another former middle school pupil, so 9, very nearly 10. I still walk my 9 year old to school along with the younger sibling but I'm not sure why - fresh air for me I suppose! It's the way around here that children have limited independence. Covid hasn't helped, DH won't let them go to the local shop alone because the rule is one adult!
sbhydrogen · 09/04/2021 10:58

I got mine at about 10. I wrote our address on the keyring so if I lost it someone would be able to return it 🤣

Serafinaaa · 09/04/2021 11:03

Never. I was required to perform shoulder contortion to unlock the door by putting my arm through the cat flap. No one else could do it but my reward was that I didn't need a key 😂

AlCalavicci · 09/04/2021 11:14

ME and DB were around 8yrs old , our primary school was only a few mins walk away , DM would be home around 90 mins after us . Ddad worked nights so we had to keep the noise down
We could make snacks watch tv or play out with friends.

MerryMarigold · 09/04/2021 11:17
  1. Mostly because once a week I got in 300 mins after them and partly because it means they can open the door themselves so don't need to open for good 3 kids when I'm in the middle of doing something else. (God forbid they actually open the door for each other)
Original poster
Lockdownbear · 09/04/2021 11:37

@sbhydrogen

I got mine at about 10. I wrote our address on the keyring so if I lost it someone would be able to return it 🤣
Grin You were a very trusting child! Did your parents know you'd done that?
OP posts:
CaptainMerica · 09/04/2021 11:47

About 10 years after I'd left home. That's when my parents first started locking their doors.

Not sure when I will give DC a key - DH always WFH, so I don't foresee any great need.

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