this is so not good

[sheena1]

Yesterday I went to a child protection meeting and was shocked at what i learned
here goes

There is no leagle age for a child to be left on there own if they are sencible and mature.

Take a 9 yr old boy for example if you pop to the shops and tell ur friend across the road ur going they pop in and out to make sure boy is ok and he can go across at anypoint
the social dont have the right to enter ur hoe and snatch a child they phone the police they enter get child

ur charged with neglect goes to court and is chucked out becauss u have a procedure in place ie friend across road knows boy is on his own

is it just me or is this utterly rediculas .

i am in scotland btw

there are a heck of a lot of child carers about.

my friend is a TA in a primary school and she told me that 2 of the children in her class were missing sleep because they were waking in the night to feed their baby brothers or sisters. I don't know why, whether their parent had major problems or just had to work nights. About 40% of the class got their younger siblings ready in the morning and brought them to school, and, presumably, sorted out their tea and took care of them afterwards.

It seemed almost irrelevant whether there was an adult at home or not.

a whole different world from the one that Sheena is so afraid of.

Good points, Iheartdusty.
How is it that a childcarer of age 4+ can be allowed to take so much on but if another parent leaves a 7yo alone for 15 minutes to pop to the shops that SS services will criticise? Oh, never mind.

Er, Sheena, what if you have another child, then what will you do when your DD starts high school? How will you escort your current 3yo to and from high school each day, AND escort the younger child to and from primary school? Can you be in two places at one time? Will your DD be dead embarrassed to see you anywhere near the school premises?

In our town it is normal for children to walk alone to / from high school starting at Y7, so age 11. I cannot escort to both places because I have younger children at the primary (other direction, traffic would be impossible and we much prefer to walk anyway). To the High School is a half hour walk from where we live. When DC start High School they will need to cope with so much change they need to already be confident on their own with a simple walk across town. They need some street smarts, and experience of what to do and how. They need to be able to cope at home, too, in case we have a family emergency or other hiccup which means I might not be home when they walk thru the door, too.

It would be "negligent" of me to not give them opportunities at doing things on their own (like staying home for an hour or more, popping up to the shop, etc) for the last few years of primary. Never mind the 'fun' they gain from these little forays into independence.

oh it's another of these threads.

DS1 (8.5) walked to school on his own for the first time yesterday.

It's just under a mile, and he had to cross a zebra crossing right at the start of the journey.

He's sensible enough (imo) to do it, and we've been increasing the distance that he walks ahead on the route since we started going it at the start of February - so doing the whole thing was actually only 3 minutes extra walking.

and as mloo says - when they start senior school it can cause huge problems if they're not used to being independent.

If DS1 gets into the school I hope he does then he'll have to walk into town (just over a mile) catch a bus and thhen walk a short distance at the other end.

He'll have to do this from the very start of the school year as there's no way i can accompany him and get DS2 and 3 to school.

sheena ur quite protective, aren't u?

Somebody gave me something once which said - there are 2 things you should give your children... roots and wings.

I refuse to take all the great childhood memories that I had, away from my children. They have to learn gradually to be independent, and to look after themselves, otherwise they don't have a clue how to cope when they get older.

My dd (11) has been walking to and from school alone for over a year now, and we often leave her in the house when we go shopping or whatever. She knows my mobile number and she knows not to answer the door or the phone unless it's me or dh.

FAQinglovely You did it! (I remembered your old thread).

I leave my 8 year old alone for 10 minutes while I pick up DS2 from football. He knows my mobile no.

SS barging in and snatching a 9yo will surely do them a LOT more damage than learning to be alone for periods of time?

I dont feel that I was neglected by letting myself in from school when my mum didnt finish work till a bit later, I felt more neglected at the childminders that was tried first - she was a b**h to me.

But I don't think Sheena is alone in being surprised that there is no legal age set for leaving your child alone.

Lots of people don't realize it - perhaps because the government is so keen to 'advise' us on all other aspects of raising a family - how many fruit and veg a day to eat/ don't forget to read to your baby/all you mums should get back to work/every child matters(doh)/bullying is bad(double doh)/cut fuel bills by switching energy supplier/ etc etc....

And perhaps Sheena is thinking 14 is the 'right' age because at the back of her mind she knows that's the age kids usually babysit from?

Also, as she says, she only has a 3 year old. Cast your mind back to when you had a LO - could you ever imagine them being old enough to be left?

(The social services as child snatcher analogy for a home alone 9 year old was a little random though...)