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 don't think any do at the moment - but the child in question was not flying unaccompanied.

Lots of roles you can’t just cancel a client meeting at short notice. In a tricky situation you make the best call you can. Parent knows child best and how they are. I’d have felt ok to leave my dd at 11 but she was used to airports and very sensible.
At that age schools often do end of year trips to theme parks and kids can go around alone with occasional check ins with staff but more than hour without adult. I’ve done same style trip for age 10 plus with a youth activity group.

Again, how is it different to an 11 year old waiting for their parent in a shopping centre? I genuinely don’t understand. They presumably find somewhere to sit and wait while parent1 is still there and convey that location to parent2?

I must have misunderstood - I thought that’s what op meant when they said child was travelling alone… if it’s just waiting alone for op to turn up, it’s such a non-issue I wish I hadn’t engaged 🤣

I wouldn’t have assumed that there would be no problems with transport as your ex clearly did - when booking meetings -

ie ( I hate double negatives ) I wouldn’t have booked a meeting so close to the pick up

if I had no choice I would have made slightly different pick up arrangements ( you could collect from the office for example )

11 seems young for an hour in such a location

I was in a train carriage from London with kids 10 ish heading to a well known boarding school. I assumed unaccompanied but a member of staff stuck head in from another carriage late in journey. They’d been alone for over 2 hours. Presumably it was a service to collect from London airports and chaperone to school the parents had paid for.

Sounds like she had to come up with a plan at short notice due to unexpected circumstances and did the best she could. No one came to any harm.

Without knowing what her meeting was and why it was so important, I am certainly not going to slate her for deciding that a clearly competent secondary age child is able to sensibly sit and wait for an hour, knowing his dad's flight is delayed. An airport is probably about the safest place this could happen considering the security cameras all over them.

Everyone here is assuming Dublin (big and scary). Ireland has other smaller regional airports.
People are also assuming it is the father that has left his kids in a different country. It could as easily be that the ex took them to Ireland and this is the best compromise they can manage.

Life isn't perfect and things are rarely black and white. Ultimately, to repeat, no one came to any harm.

The difference is less familiar environment, very busy

in a shopping centre my children would have been bored and read a book
at that age they would have been all over an airport inside and out -

as I understood, mum dropped child at airport where dad was supposed to meet the child, but dad was delayed and mum had to leave due to work commitments.

Why would they have been all over the airport? What would they have been doing? Can’t they just be told to sit and wait?

The difference is less familiar environment, very busy
Not necessarily true.
We dint know which airport, people are making assumptions.
Also itcsounds like the usual handover from one parent to another so kid could be more familiar with this place than the main shopping mall.

This. I wouldn’t have booked the client meeting at that time in the first place. I would have taken leave to ensure my kid would have time to be picked up if there were delays. If there was no choice and couldn’t cancel, I would have taken kid to the office with me.

surely if this is the contact arrangement you had already discussed and agreed what would happen in this scenario? How long was your flight and how long the delay?

He’s 11 not 5. Whilst I wouldn’t necessarily make it a choice to leave a child on their own, I really don’t see this as being too problematic either. As long as he is sensible (unlikely to wander) and has a phone then I don’t think it’s much of an issue.

You have to assume parent knows child best and has made best decision in a tricky situation. They will have weighed everything up.
Eg If it’s an airport similar to George Best in Belfast in NI it’s tiny and very safe. Child may also be a seasoned flier in and out of same airport. If it’s first time ever flown from a busy international airport totally different risk assessment. If child is driven everywhere and not allowed on any school trips very different to a child who gets bus to school and has been away with scouts regularly since he was 8. Devil in the detail but I’d honestly think fine.

I wouldn’t want to do it, but in an emergency, if I had to, I’d feel confident that my 11 year old would be okay waiting in a public place, assuming they had a phone to keep in contact. I’d feel more comfortable if they went through security though and were waiting by the boarding gates.

Giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, I assume this was an unplanned and emergency situation. I think the person with the client meeting should technically cancel but I don’t know the details of the job. I think airports are pretty safe in terms of there being lots of security and cameras around even though it’s not ideal.

I think after this episode, you all need to build in more leeway into your timetables and ensure this does not happen again.

This.

11yr olds in London commute across the city to school.

I was definitely capable of sitting and reading a book quietly gor an hour age 11

At 11? Blimey, you must have had a difficult time!

Literally what is wrong with everyone thinking an 11 year old can’t be left for an hour in a public place.

Sure, but so is keeping a roof over the child’s head, hence her leaving for a client meeting.

It's all a bit of a non issue. Have unwatched.

Firstly and most importantly, how did your son feel regarding this? If he was perfectly fine, waiting at the airport for you, then no harm done. If he was scared and upset when you arrived, then that's a different matter. You couldn't help the fact your flight was delayed, but equally your ex couldn't help the fact she needed to be at work for a meeting with a client. It's circumstances. It may have been very difficult for your ex to ring into work and say 'sorry, I'm going to be late, my son's Dad's flight has been delayed' or tell them she wouldn't make the meeting at all. Some employers don't give two hoots, about personal circumstances, especially the higher up the food chain a person travels. If she relies on her job, and is the main provider/carer for your son, it's difficult, when situations happen out of a person's control. All I can say, is perhaps there needs to be a buffer, in case this happens again (which is entirely possible). So you catch an earlier flight (even the day before) and/or your ex makes sure she's able to stay with your son, until you arrive (try to organise work differently). No one is to 'blame', here, it's simply circumstances.

Precious? I’m guessing you’re not a parent?

Dublin airport is quiet compared to some. I'd be proud of my 11 year old managing that and his mother sounds like she has a job she can't just change at short notice.

Sounds like she is facilitating you to collect your child at the airport and fly back home which is easier than you leaving the airport and collecting him from home.

The event has happened, praise your child for their independence and appreciate that their mother could not go through security with them and has a job to pay for your child's needs and wants. Your child is expected to check-in two hours before hand and was only waiting an hour for you.

Next time you should allow more time for potential delays as this was caused by your flight issue. You could spend a night in a hotel in Dublin airport and meet your child the next day to fly out.