Can I leave my 11 year old alone in airport for an hour?

[Lifoo]

Interested in what the other parents might think about this.

I live in a different country to my kids and regularly fly to Ireland to collect them and then bring them back to UK with me.

On the last trip it was just my 11 year old son travelling and as my plane had been delayed (communicated this with ex) she left my son in the airport by himself, siting that she had to attend a client meeting.

He ended up waiting by himself near security departure gates for an hour.

Thoughts?

I’d think an airport is one of the safest places for him to be alone for an hour isn’t it? Crawling with security, cameras, police etc and plenty of people to help him if he was concerned. And I assume he has a phone?

I live in London and my 2 have been crossing London alone to get to school and back on tubes and buses since they were 11.

It's pretty obvious they think she should have blown off her work meeting. Even though they get to live in a different country and see the kid on their own terms.

My dd flew to Newcastle by herself at that age to visit dd2 at university. She's also get the train to Bristol (via London) by herself. Delends on your child. I'd have no issues at all.

No. I’m genuinely shocked at some of the responses on here.

Yes absolutely fine. Age 11 is the first year of secondary school. You don’t see people’s parents walking them to school, why would they need a hand hold for just sitting in a seat in an airport for an hour?

Well I doubt she had much choice really - with client meetings there can be $$$$ on the line, so cancelling so last minute is not something to be taken lightly and I'm sure her work wouldn't have been impressed.

He flies regularly, is familiar with the airport, and there is plenty of official staff around he would be able to ask if he needed help.

I would have left him also - probably in a cafe with a drink and near a charger incase he needed to charge his phone. Then told him who to ask (the security) if he needed help.

I'm confused why this is even a question?

11 year olds must have changed a lot since mine (or me) were 11. They were both walking to school alone, for 45 minutes, meeting friends in town for the afternoon, or getting the bus to the nearest city with friends.

My oldest is only 22, have 11-year-olds gone from being on their way to becoming independent young adults, learning how to navigate the world around them, to being incapable of sitting in a secure location for an hour?

I was regularly getting the bus or train from Newcastle to Manchester alone at 11, in an age where mobile phones were not a thing so if you missed your connection or the train was cancelled, you had to figure it out without Google.

I wouldn’t have a problem with this. My children were coming home from school alone on the bus at just turned 11. They also would travel on a 2.5hr train journey with someone meeting them either end. Sitting in a busy airport for an hour I see no issue with. Assume they had a phone if any issues.

Not correct. My daughter flew to South East Asia alone age 15. Most airlines allow unaccompanied minors.

Junior school 11 year, depends on child, but if they’re used to travelling and airports, should be fine.

Senior school 11 year old - should be fine, as they’re more independent.

Depends on the child. At 12 mine was travelling independendently on the train for 1 hour 15.
Fine if they know the airport , are a confident sensible child and have a phone

Is he going to secondary school in a few weeks time? So old English to be catching a bus to school on his own? Which seems worse to me than sitting for one hour in a busy public place with security 🤷‍♀️. I’m guessing he had a phone? My biggest fear would have been him not going through the gate in time and missing the flight if he’s easily distracted I guess.

I think DDs would have been fine, but I'd have still cancelled the meeting and stayed, personally.

I would have done- IF he was happy with it and was used to doing things on his own. But I would have left him in Starbucks rather than just sitting in the airport. And I would have only done it if the other parent was happy too.

Worse case scenario - he goes missing - would you & his mum feel ok that he had been left alone in the first place?

I suppose it's the same as leaving your child home alone, you have to check if
-child is happy and confident to be on their own
-they know what to do in case of emergency

• they know not to talk to strangers

-they have food and water supplies (it could have been longer than an hour)

But saying that, it doesn't mean that your ex wasn't very immature to leave him on his own because of a meeting.

I don't think it's the same as flying as an unaccompanied minor where the situation is planned in advance, the child already knows, and officials/airline staff are aware and presumably there's protocols in place.

I wouldn't have done it myself. I wonder what security would do if they knew?

I wouldn’t class an airport as a safe place with thousands of passengers transiting through! No one has any idea what the behaviours of those passengers is!

I think it is not the preferred solution, but I also think presuming that she has to pick up the slack and the blame when your flight is late is actually quite cheeky of you.

I’m guessing your son was land side? I think it would better if he was airside. Presumably he has a phone and con contact both of you.

In any case, from aged 12, on aer Lingus he will be able to fly as an unaccompanied minor, so it’s all moot.

So for me, this isn’t something I would be making a big deal over.

Not ideal, but if your son was ok with it then I think it would be ok. Having a fairly old child being able to do things unsupervised is one of the great divides on Mumsnet. It makes it really hard to foster independence in children when society expects us parents to helicopter. There are very few things children are “allowed” do to under 16 so it’s no wonder they get accused of being clueless as young adults.

After security is probably one of the safest places anyone can be! There are also loads of people around should he be unsure, I would let my 11 year old.

Depends on the 11 year old

If he was happy about it, and could communicate with a parent by phone, I think it’s ok.

I wouldn't have a problem for safety reasons with an 11 year old being alone at an airport. I would however feel sad that his mother didn't want to wait with him and spend that time with him so he felt looked after. Important when you are little.

If he had gone through security and was on the departure side, I would be ok with this. There’s no way he could leave or be taken from the airport without the official assistance of security staff so very safe from that perspective. Everyone on the other side has also quite literally had their ID recorded and their belongings x-rayed so again, risk of anything dodgy being able to happen very low. At 11 he’s secondary school age so should be able to manage for an hour independent in a safe setting.

If on the other side of security I’d be much less happy with him sitting there but statistically he’d be fine. I think you need a plan for if it happens again.