What age is considered appropriate before a child can do this...

[Poppymayday]

Get themselves home from a local school, let themselves in and stay home alone for an hour or so until adult gets back home?

@MyDeepZebra It's obviously about a young child having no one to come home to and having no choice but to sit alone with their feelings when they've had emotionally difficult school day.

"Emotionally difficult school day"? Dear god, where are you sending your children?

The most stressful thing that happens in primary school is having to add fractions.

When my Aunt was 8 (now 60s) she and a friend used to spend their school holidays hitch hiking around the island.

No harm came to them... but can you imagine doing that now?

Are you out of your freaking MIND?!?!?! Anybody who had their 8yr old do this would likely get arrested for child neglect & endangerment ffs. My god pleeeease tell me you're not

That's neglect and you know it

Starting secondary school, so 11/12

You obviously didn't see my earlier post about my own experiences of bullying and sexual assault as a 9 year old and having to deal with it alone, which is fine.

But school, and childhood isn't a walk in the park for many. You're very fortunate that it's never affected you.

As a boy in the 60s I was doing this at 9 (altho' our house was only 100 metres from the school gates).

I was then by myself for 2 hours.

These days I suspect that would have people yelling and screaming.

I'd say from the start of year 6 whatever age that is for the child 10/11 depending on birthday

Japan is a safer place to live than the UK. I don't need to watch the programme as I don't have young children, my point is I have a very independent, competent, intelligent and mature almost 18 year old man; I have a younger DD heading that way. It doesn't follow that leaving an 8 year old on their own for an hour after school creates any significant advantage. The advantages in life come from emotional intelligence and education and that should be the focus for a young child to get them to a place of readiness via confidence when older. I had a similar upbringing as did my older siblings and not leaving us to do this at 8 has had no detrimental impacts whatsoever.

Rubbish. It is no such thing.

Year 7. For a Sept born maybe the summer of year six we would start introducing independence.

I was 12, this was the early noughties. 30min walk, some along a main road. Home for an hour or so before mum got back. Frequently forgot my key 🤦‍♀️.

11-12
maybe a responsible 10 year old but not regularly

Year 6 for walking to/from school on their own, start of year 7 for letting themselves in and being alone for an hour or so before an adult gets in. My DS was a super sensible child and was fine to be left for 20 minutes while I popped to the shop at 9, but nothing more than that.

Rightly or wrongly, the school I work at would make a referral if an 8 year old was going to be at home alone like the OP mentioned

Home alone once they get there???

I doubt it!

Children mature considerably later these days than they did when I was growing up. (Born mid-50s.)

They are doing things for the first time at secondary school age that my generation was doing at 8, 9 or 10.

Whether that is a good thing or not, I cannot say.

Mine did this, home alone for about 45 mins, in year 6, so age 10/11.

I wouldn't leave a Year 6 to let themselves in and be alone for an hour

Year 7 more likely

My wife has a friend whose father worked for BP and she went, un-accompanied, from Iran to the UK (and vice versa) in the school holidays.

She was 10.

I just find that really sad to read, a child having to process all that. I agree, it is not that they can't do the practical thing of opening a door with a key but it seems to me a cold, isolating experience.

I wasn't suggesting you watch the programme because you have young children - you told me in your first post they're teenagers. I was suggesting you watch it to gain another perspective, which clearly you don't want to do, and that's fine.

I think it depends on the distance and the area you live.
We unfortunately live in a not so nice town the whole place is bad.
Only yesterday a delivery guy on a bike got beat up in the next road to us in the middle of the day .
So I still pick my kids up .

Depends very much on the individual child! My DD was 11 (year 6) when she started doing this 2 days a week until I got home from work at 4.45 pm. Her school was only a 7 minute walk away,the only busy road had a lollipop lady patrol. I might add that this was in 1994/1995 when there was nothing like the incidence of knife crime that there is nowadays. I would probably think twice about allowing her to do it now.