Advice - Legal

[MustangSally68]

What's the legal amount of hours a 14 year old and a 16 year old can baby sit a week?

has a law been passed to dictate this

im pretty sure if you choose to leave a child with a person under 16, and something bad happens, its still the parents who are responsible

and at 16... well its completely legal then to be a parent, so have sole charge 24/7!

It depends on what you mean by babysitting. I used to babysit for 2 hours everyday when 14 as the mum went to an evening class, I babysat most Friday and saturday nights from 14 too, from 7 -midnight.

There is no law on babysitting, only guidelines and some people say you shouldn't leave a 14 year old on their own in their own home, but NSPCC guidelines say depends on the child.

When you think a 16 year old could have a baby of their own 24/7 , why can't someone look after a baby on the baby's home for a few hours?

These guidelines may help and offer training courses, which I think is a really good idea.

www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/805D4E0B-7CD1-4C07-A438-F128EC2A090A/0/BabysittingGuidelines.pdf

nannyl, there is NO law,a common misconception, this is from "ask the police"

No, there is no legal age for babysitting. It is the responsibility of the parents using common sense to make the decision. It is worth bearing in mind though that a child under 16 years old cannot be prosecuted for neglect or ill treatment of children in their care. The parents/carers/guardians would be charged in that situation. However, any person who is 16 or over and who has responsibility for a person under that age could be prosecuted.

There is a lot of similar info on the net

That's what nannyl said

Thank you for your advice its quite complicated as this is to do with my friends children .
His ex wife chooses to work on average 50 hours a week ( private nursing) and it seems his children 10, 11, and 12 are regularly looked after by 2 other children a 14 year old boy and a 16 year old girl .
He lives over 200 miles away due to work so he's unable to drop by and check that everything is running smoothly.

alibeen, that IS what i said

i would have issues with a 14 year old "baby sitting" a 12 year old!

and at 16, well i dont see the problem if (s)he is responsible enough

I babysat at 14 (for my neighbours.... often they had a "night out" with my parents at my house (about 20 secs walk away) OR they would go out and in an emergancy my parents could have come round.

At 19 (& 1 week old) i had 3 children, 4months, 4 years and 8 years proxy parenting 24/7 for 2 weeks while their parents were on holiday the other side of the world.... ok I was older then 16... and had a driving license etc etc but if I can do that at 19, i dont see why a responsible 16 year old cant look after children for a few hours.

I regularly babysat for lots of local families by the time i was 16.... including toddlers and babies.

nannyl. apologies, I didn't see your first sentence as a question

Are they older step/half siblings or are they being paid to babysit? If the latter, maybe they would fall under the child employment laws so it may be worth considering the legalities from that angle?

No worries..... had i have put a question mark as i should, it may have helped !!!

I don't see any problem with a 16 yr old and 14 yr old looking after younger siblings - especially as the youngest is 10, so hardly a baby. Many people would leave a 10/11 yr old home alone (I wouldn't, but people do...) so surely they are better off with older ones there too, as long as the older ones are sensible and they don't all fight/argue etc.

Ah - I see - they are not siblings, sorry. Even so, I think it is ok, depending on the character and behaviour of the children involved.

I think maybe the Op is thinking about the young persons working directive (not totally sure that that is what it is called) but there are some laws as to what a school aged child can work.

Read about it here

Would this cover babysitting? Well it is working but who would regulate it? It's not like paid employment in a shop or cafe.

My concern is 1 of the children has asthma and it seems the 16 year old regularly sleeps over .
I worry about the kids being left for long hours with unqualified baby sitters the school week is not a problem but the school holidays is a different matter. Thanks again the info you have provided has been very helpful.