What do your Year 7 kids do after school when you’re working?

[welshweasel]

DS currently in Year 5 so needing to think about school options for secondary. He is currently in an independent school, where he’s dropped off for breakfast at 7.30, then picked up any time after 5.15 having done extracurricular clubs, can stay later and have tea if needed. It’s worked brilliantly as DH and I both work full time out of the house. We’ve not had to worry about ferrying to activities and the routine has worked well.

We’re not in a position to keep him there for secondary (fees have doubled since he started there) so looking at other options. Our catchment school is 1.5 miles away, so he’d leave home to walk there not too long after we leave for work, so that would be ok. They finish at 2.50pm so he’d presumably walk home then be alone until we get home with our youngest just before 6.

Anyone in a similar position? What do your kids do? How do you stop them from just sitting on an Xbox for hours, which would be his choice?!

The other option open to us would be state boarding, which would get round the supervision issue and ensure he can do lots of extracurriculars still (loves sport and music) but he’d be away 4 nights a week and I’d miss him!

Anyone care to share how they have navigated this issue? Thanks

It wasn't too long ago that singles went on holiday without friends!
Is there a law against this now? I know people who still do this.

Anyway back to the original question, my DD would definitely not do homework if there was anything else to do instead. She has got several detentions this year (about one every two weeks) for not doing homework and if we didn't remind her, and check online, she would do none. She seems to regard detention as a pleasant alternative to actually doing it and has been caught out by not doing it, going to detention, and then still not doing it and having another detention.

We have an afterschool nanny.

There's no law against it but young people definitely do not go on holiday on their own anymore, not in the numbers that people did 15-20 years ago. Good point missing.

How do you know that? I'm not sure anyone keeps figures - do you think maybe your friends are now coupled up so don't go on holiday solo any more?
Seems like a really odd thing to assert with no evidence.

DS is Yr 6 -aged 11, in preparation for secondary he’s had his own key for about 6 months, we work shifts and maybe 1/2 a week he lets himself in after school… he finishes at 3.30pm and takes anywhere from 30mins-1 hr to walk home. Once he’s home he just does what he fancies, Xbox / iPad and then I get home about 5.30 ish having picked his sister up on the way.

For some kids night after night alone is just too much. One of my friends dc went to a school that finished at 2:30, he was home before 1/4 to 3 and especially at the nights drew in he hated being alone until 6/6:30 every night.
Luckily his old childminder was happy for him to attend a couple of nights a week.
The other thing that I have known work well is to pay a sixth former from his school to accompany him home and lightly supervise him. Depends how rural you are as to whether that could work.

She just goes home although she’s year 8 now. When she first started secondary she did a lot of after school stuff. Now she just does a couple

I'm not talking in absolutes - I think that it's quite clear.

TikTok is full of videos of young people either worrying about or guiding each other about how to do everyday normal things on their own.

Do you not think that’s a bit of a self selecting sample though? Those who are just getting on with it aren’t going to be making videos on TikTok about it, are they?

Not really, because it tracks very well against other trends that we know of - increased prevalence of mental health issues like anxiety, reliance on social media, young people spending more of their free time on their own etc.

After posting the other day, I looked it up and actually solo travelling is increasing.

https://www.condorferries.co.uk/solo-travel-statistics

At that age he should definitely be able to once he’s home, get a snack (microwave, air fryer or fridge) and hot or cold drink and entertain themselves including doing homework. Yes, they can get distracted by x box but shouldn’t do or just allow themselves a short time on it. He should not need adult supervision though this would be nice. A rough guide about what to do/who to call on in an emergency is a good idea. Also basic house rules such as do/don’t answer door to strangers. Ring doorbell comes in useful then.

I cant see any mention of age groups in that link? so it doesn’t really respond to anything.

Maybe older widows and widowers are now more likely to solo travel due to increased wealth. Who knows - certainly not you.

You said "singles". Not "young people".