Article discussing the law on leaving children alone...

[Mumpbump]

At the risk of provoking more heated discussion on the topic, I thought this article quite interesting as I'm sure a lot of people have been wondering in light of recent events what the legal position actually is on leaving children alone...

legal analysis

Hmm, as usual it is clear as mud.

I wont even go in the garden when my ds is in bed. What if there was a fire and I couldnt get to him.

I accept that as parents go, I am exceptionally protective and indeed have been told so.

When I hear this horrendous news, I give thanks to God than I am the way I am.

I know I couldnt bare the pain of losing my IVF one and only and this is what makes me this way. Its all about me really!

I don't think i could be clear cut though. There are circumstances where it's OK, and others where it wouldn't be. And it depends on the children too.

I have been wondering mumpbump I must admit what the the law allows. As a decidedly benign neglecter I have left my eldest child (10)in the house alone for short periods of time and even my 8yr old. Never for long, and never far away, but quite often. For example when I drive from work to pick them up at school in the car, I might meet them at school and give them the house key, whilst I go and fill up with petrol. They don't want to sit in a hot car for an extra ten mins. School is about half a mile from home so they walk it and are along for a very short time. I know children from DS#1's class who let themselves out of their houses in the morning and let themselves back into an empty house in the afternoon while their parents are at work. I wouldn't like that because I think it's unfair on the kids - but I don't think it should be illegal. I also allow my eldest 2 to go to the park alone and have done for a few years (park is 1 street away). I wouldn't leave my 4yr old under any circumstances as he'd panic. My eldest 2 are independent and largely sensible.

I'm quite pleased to have this information as my dsc have been telling us that it is illegal to leave children under the age of 12 alone at home under any circumstances at all!!

This is very interesting , I am with Tenalady on this , I never leave dd on her own as a baby if she was asleep when getting petrol etc I would take her in with me to pay. I never really entrust the care of her now she is just 5 to anyone other than my father , my partners mother or sister and her childminder and one of her friends mums who is also a teacher , maybe I am odd .
I know some people I work with find aupairs on the internet and employ them for very little money without really knowing there background , its something I would never do here or on holiday . It was my choice to have dd and I am quite prepared to forsake my nights out, dinners etc until she is a little older even though it may be called boring . I would not leave my money or valubles in a hotel room in a another country in case they were stolen so why on earth would I leave my child.

On another note a girl who lived above my frequently used to pop to the shops leaving her ds asleep when he was around 3 and he would often wake and I could hear him sobbing and distreesed to find himself alone something I found pretty distressing and she did actually lock herself out on one occasion and had to call the fire brigade to break off the front door and her door to get in because he was alone and my partner was fuming on returning and seeing the child was so upset & sobbing his heart out.

I read it in the paper. In other words they are saying the law does not really have an answer at all and the rules are completely unclear. So if you get a judge or jury that thinks what some of us do is fine you'll get off and if you get a watch them 24/7 type person you'll get imprisoned.

"Neglect or abandon" - I bet in 1933 that meant leaving them at home for a week and that neglect meant not feed them for a week etc.

"It is an offence under section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 to neglect or abandon a child under the age of 16 for whom a parent or carer has responsibility, but the law gives no detail of what amounts to neglect or abandonment. Prosecution and/or conviction depend largely on the circumstances. The punishment can range from a fine to ten years? imprisonment.

The court is to likely to take into account the age and maturity of the child, for how long he or she was left alone and the arrangements to ensure his or her safety. Here, the children might get out of the car and wander on to the road ? or anybody could remove a child from the car."

I think if there was an accident and a case came to court, the reason for the absence would come into play.

Dashing up the road to pick up a baby's prescription would probably be judged much more leniently than dashing up the road to buy a bottle of vodka.

It gives huge discretion doesn't it, like most of the law.

The only time we left the youngest Ls aged about 5 in an emergency as their 15 year old brother had to go out and I was almost home they decided to leave the house as they didn't like being alone and went in to one of my neighbour's houses - you can just imagine how I felt. The neighbour was really good about it and said they could come over any time.

Can I just point out on the subject of taking children into garages to pay for petrol that doing it with three children under the age of three is a different matter to getting one out.

I have a friend (with one child) who made me feel quite rubbish about doing this when I was struggling on many levels with the day to day coping that three very little children can bring.

Having read the article I have been guilty of scenario one and three. 17 years ago, with 3 children under 5 I used to leave them in the car outside the supermarket pretty much every week. BUT so did everybody else. It was a small supermarket with floor to roof windows across the front and you parked immediately in front of those windows. You could see the cars from the checkout and from about half of the shop. On a playgroup day there would be a line of cars parked in front of those windows and every one would have children in. They all knew each other and would wave to their friends through the car windows. Nothing happened to any of them.

I can also remember going to a party round the corner with the baby monitor and leaving the children for an hour or so. It was before we moved so they were no older than 10,8,6 and 4. We could have been back in less than 5 minutes though.

It was a different time then. I don't think I'd do it now. (Though I thought not being able to leave a child in the car until they are 16 is a bit daft).

read the piece in the times but can't understand how they say it's ok to leave your kids in a locked hotel room but not in a house - even for 10 mins.

The thing is, children are not any more likely to be abducted now than they were, say, 20 or 30 years ago. It is the perecption of likely danger that has changed - the actual number of child abductions by strangers has stayed remarkably stable for about 50 years.

The fact remains that children are very much more likely to be murdered or abused by someone they know and trust.

good points made Ruby. If it had been Jade Goody who'd lost a child under these circs then she'd have had to book herself into rehab, then volunteered to go to prison and then begged the authorities to take her children into care while she sat in the stocks.
The media judges people on a class basis - no question about it! And this is in no way intended to show anything but compassion for these poor people to be honest I cannot imagine how they are carrying on at all except to look after their other children.
Equally though I don't know how the parents of children in Iraq are coping, children who've died because of US/UK military activity.

Do people really take their children in to pay for petrol?
If I can see ds I lock the car and go to pay. Is it risky if you can see the child all the time?

How is this not similar to crossing roads and riding bikes? Kids die from these things ...

There is always a bit of a discrepancy in how we guage risk I think. Few children are abducted by strangers but we still keep a close eye on them in public. A tension operates between what is statisically likely and what we feel comfortable with. And we do some things that feel risky because we think it's worth it. And we let our children do things we find scary because sometimes it's worth it. I'm sure everyone knows that feeling of the heart in the mouth while your child climbs a tree or freewheels down a hill. You feel almost sick but you know it's good for them to do it.

I read this yesterday and I like both these collumists so was pleased that they seemed sane.

agree with Ruby on class thing

It is different, NGC, because of what may be happening to that little girl who has been abducted. Being run over doesn't hold the same horror.

"You feel almost sick but you know it's good for them to do it. "

Quite agree. Watching my nearly 3 yr old climb to the top of the big slide in the park and then stand there waving at me But should I have stopped him? No.

I just stopped at petrol station and took ds (2.5 ) in with me - always have done. don't care if others think am over-protective, just got to do what feels right. in same way, wouldn't judge those who leave them in car. but going into a shop where you can't see the car and paying for petrol where you can are two v different things IMO.

Our sense of risk changes. Obviously at some point everyone leaves their offspring alone. You don't book a babysitter for an 18-year-old. It's just people choose different ages to make that decision.

Exactly RR. What feels acceptable isn't fixed.

"It is different, NGC, because of what may be happening to that little girl who has been abducted. Being run over doesn't hold the same horror."

Why???? So many children who are involved in traffic accidents are killed, maimed, or left in excruciating pain - for weeks and months.

A friend of mine is in intensive care just now after a near-fatal traffic accident. It is unclear whether she will walk again if she recovers. I feel utter horror thinking of her circumstances.