To think people in the UK are very lax generally about children being left alone?

[Toxicityofourcity]

Not from the UK. Some of the threads on here baffle me when it comes to leaving children alone. Children as young as 10 and 11 getting themselves home from the school, bus etc and letting themselves into an empty house. Being left for a few hours on their own. Have just read a thread about a 16yr old being left for 4 days... because she has to mind some cats?!? WTF? I just don't understand. This is not something that's done in my country at all. Is it a cultural thing? Do people not worry about house fires, accidents, abductions etc.? I just really don't understand it. But here on MN it seems totally acceptable?

@Toxicityofourcity do all families have one sahp where you're from?!
My almost 12 year old DD walks home from primary and some days were still at work when she gets home.
She'll have a shorter walk to secondary in September. Totally fine walking to and from school.
School buses that collect from the house don't exist here unless for children with profound special needs who attend specialist provision

To say that it's dangerous to let a 16 yr old be at home alone for a few days is utterly ridiculous imho.

Well ... it really is dangerous if the said 16 yr old has always ever been treated as a helpless baby.

👏👏👏 totally agree.

The rising cost of childcare

I do not treat my 16 uear as a baby, however having collected said child from a party where no parents were in evidence @ midnight last night. There is no way on God's earth she is being left for a " few days".

Sudden flashback to my parents leaving my brother, then 17 I think, home alone and he had a massive party then decided to go somewhere else, leaving all the doors and windows wide open (not just unlocked, wide open) and the TV on and just buggered off somewhere. Luckily neighbours contacted my parents before anyone took advantage of a burglar's paradise. Some teenagers definitely can't be trusted alone, that's for sure!

At 16 I was looking after my two younger brothers while my parents went away. No problems at all, I loved it and I also had cash to budget for food and activities. My 12yo stays at home for maybe an hour or two on his own, and only if I'm in the local town a mile away, so I think I'm probably stricter and more cautious than previous generations of parents. My 9yo walks home from school (though I am here).