ds is 14, nearly 15, old enough to be a babysitter, well at his age i was.. but alone in the house?

[TheThlotPlickens]

i can't decide whether to leave him between 5 and around 11.pm while we go out. he does not want to go where we are going.
we wont be able to get home to him before then as have no transport.

i am sure at his age i was left alone but in this position i am unsure.

If you feel he is mature enough to be left alone, then I'd say that's fine. As long as he can contact you if there is a problem.

I was definitely left alone at this age.

Only you know your own child, but I have left my children when they were much younger than that.

This age is really tough because, as you say, he is old enough to be responsible for, not just himself, but also young children in an emergency late at night. However the idea of leaving them alone in the house just seems wrong!

I think it is another one of those times whn you have to be sensible about risk and look objectivly at your child. Would you really trust him to get small children out of a house in the case of a fire? If the answer is yes then you should probably trust him to get himself out - of course the next question is do you trust him not to organise a party whilst you are out

why dont you get him to ask a friend over to keep him company?

I'd leave a 14 yr old alone in the house for that amount of time, but again only you know your child best!!!

If you can't trust him to be alone, then perhaps you need to work on this. He is plenty old enough.

thanks for the replies.
no he won't be babysitting. i was just thinking of the example, that i was babysitting at his age.

a friend over?
just one might be a good idea.
will suggest that.

the thing is with facebook and stuff he might tempted to tell loads of people he is alone.

will have to have a chat.

I leave DS1 (who is 11) at home on his own for a few hours - however only because he is very sensible & also only during the day, he would be scared on his own once it gets dark.

I can understand that 11pm is quite late even when you're 14 - maybe having a sensible friend over (ie one unlikely to broadcast that they are home alone on facebook/bebo) would be a good compromise

sensible boy?

in retrospect, he might be better alone..

I think he might be better alone too.
I have strange photos on my digital camera of DS and his mates doing strange things with fruit and household objects when he was left home alone. he is older, 20, but you never can trust them.
Before you go out give him the lecture about not abusing the trust you have in him. Tell him if you have any carry-on, then old Mrs Meggins from down the road will be coming to sit him next time. And her moustache.

purple - I think wemay need to see those

Perfectly fine. With rules. And as long as he can get hold of you in emergency.

we might just know a Mrs Muggins

I have a 14 yr old DS who is probably more mature and sensible than I am.
I would only leave him if there were somebody ,a friend or neighbour , nearby who he could call on in an emergency and they knew about the arrangement.

What sort of things with fruit?

He would be fine on his own, I would'nt have a friend over though. Even sensible teenagers can get very silly when they have friends over without an adult present.

I leave my 13 yr old on his own lots of times.

What are you worried might happen?