10yr nearly 11yr at home by themselves

[SamHHM37]

I need to ask is a 10 nearly 11 ye old at home 2-3 days a week acceptable while I come home from work??

No I wouldn't until they were 12-13 years old.

They could cook when an adult was at home.

Mine isn't. Turn your back for 5 minutes and he is trying to recreate an experiment he's just seen on YouTube with a collection of kitchen ingredients and tools from the shed. 🫣

Yes, fine. Unless the child has SEN that means they are not capable of getting home and then staying safe. Or if your home or neighbourhood is unsafe. Or if you are getting home after 10pm. I'm assuming this is a sensible child, for a couple of daytime hours in a safe environment?

@Desecratedcoconut "Mine isn't. Turn your back for 5 minutes and he is trying to recreate an experiment he's just seen on YouTube with a collection of kitchen ingredients and tools from the shed."

Have you considered teaching him how to cook?

I was thinking the end of the 90s, which is when government pushed councils / schools to have wrap around care.

Would I have to eat it?

If you have a ring doorbell, or similar, you can see when they get home, with who, if they go out etc etc.

@Desecratedcoconut Fair enough. Personally, I like capable children! All a bit Swallows and Amazons in this house.

I see your Swallows and Amazons and raise you a, Honey I shrunk the Kids style 10 yo inventer and a home which needs to not explode or burn down - special thanks to Mark Rober 🙄

OK so that's Barnardos.

What does the LAW say?

The law and the government look to the experts in this situation Barnardo's. Making an arbitrary age was deemed inappropriate. Hence the appropriate body is tasked with developing guidance which can be referenced.

Law isn't appropriate in every case. Societal expectations change more and more rapidly and revising law takes time. Law is appropriate where it has an expectation of lasting a long time and is appropriate.@IvorTheEngineDriver

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/in-the-home/home-alone/

The UK's own body recommends 12+

NSPCC guidance has nothing to do with the law.

the nspcc is a charity offering advice. It's nothing to do with the government or law

Like I say, that is so dangerous and limiting.

Parents of yr 7 dc would need to take a leave of absence for a year if they couldn’t wfh, as no childcare is available, esp if their dc were summer born. Great idea.

Also it’s no way to foster the independence children need and deserve.

I always find it really odd that NSPCC suggests kids shouldn’t be left alone until 12/13 yet tax free childcare stops at start of secondary school and criminal responsibility starts from 10.

My kids are 12 and 10. They each make dinner one night a week, whether I’m in the house or not. And you won’t let a 13 year old cook?

School holidays where I am, my 8yo is home, I'm WFH and in meetings. She knocked on the door and brought me a coffee and a snack she had prepared for me - fried egg on toast. Well to be fair, we have a nespresso machine, so she didn't need to handle boiling water and kettles or anything. But yes I expect she can manage basic dinners in a couple of years.

But on the other hand, her older brother is not yet allowed to cook when home alone, as he is exactly the type who would put something on the hob, wander off and forget about it.
So depends on the kids.

My eldest will be 11 in a couple of weeks and yes, I leave him at home alone for maybe an hour or two at the most while I go shopping or something. The door is locked and the dog is here and he's sensible. I'd never leave him in charge of his younger sister though

@fieldsofbutterflies @Clearinguptheclutter @clary I clearly explained why it isn't set in law. Funding childcare and not providing basic care of a child are not linked! I am not in your jurisdiction so I went and located your jurisdiction guidelines which I am sure are used in court cases as similar are used here.

Talk about tone deaf! I don't qualify for a penny funding in Ireland - do you think my children were left unsupervised since 7 months?

No I did what everyone else working did earned and paid for the care. I appreciate there are low earners but money should never come into a decision on child safety. That is a rush to the bottom.

Hopefully there are measures in place to bridge the gap. The questions is about leaving a child a child I believe too young to not have the care of an adult, nothing to do with cost.

I am not in your jurisdiction so I went and located your jurisdiction guidelines which I am sure are used in court cases as similar are used here

But they're not our jurisdiction guidelines, they're just random bits of "advice" made up by charity. They're absolutely nothing to do with the law.

The issue with charities setting ages is they are going to err on the side of caution ⚠️
They possibly set it high because they know people will use it as a guideline on when kids can be left all day or night.
The vast majority of posters are asking when will the parent be home?

There is a huge difference between leaving kids for a couple of hours after school and leaving them until you've finished a backshift at 10pm.
Or going out on a Saturday night leaving young kids home alone until 12pm.

Or the crazy poster a year or so ago "Can I leave my 12 & 15 year old from Monday morning to Wednesday night?"
Because she'd got herself a big bucks job but wasn't taking into account the impact on her children.

There is no care available in England for an 11yo tho! I’m not talking about funding, just whether it is there - and it’s not. Mainly bc there is no demand as people in general trust their 11yo not to destroy their home in an hour between 4pm and 5pm.

I am aware of the law and thank goodness it doesn’t follow the NSPCC guidelines. Neglect is what is illegal and rightly so.

I'd be fine with my children opening the door and doing whatever for an hour or two at 11yo.

Just make sure they don't do what I did at their age and put their name and address on their house keys 'so someone could return them if they got lost' 😆

There is not nearly enough information in your OP for anyone to determine whether this is ok.

How does your child feel about it? Are they worried about being left alone or are they happy with the arrangement?

What time will you be home?

Will you be contactable at work? Do you have a landline or does your child have a phone so they can get hold of you?

How far away from home do you work? If you cannot get back quickly in the event of a problem is there a friend/neighbour/relative locally your child can get in touch with?

Do they know what to do in the event of an emergency such as a fire?

Without knowing the answers to the above no one can reasonably say whether the situation is safe or not.