What would you do if your next door neighbor left his 6 year old daughter home alone?

Question

Our next door neighbor has a 6 yr old daughter. He has sole custody, but his mother ends up taking care of her 99% of the time because he's either working or with his girlfriend. I had suspected that she was often left alone at home, but tonight I witnessed it firsthand. The grandmother left the house alone. Then the father pulled up in his truck about 2 hours later, and the young girl came outside. I feel so bad for this little girl.

Answer 1

child services or talk to your neighbor

Answer 2

The first thing would be to call your local police when you know she is home alone. They can take it from there. I do not think you will even have to be involved as a witness. The police will simply be acting on a tip. They will be the most credible witnesses.

If you call child protective services by the time they respond the child will probably not be alone. They will be involved at a much quicker time frame if the police call them.

6 years is just too young to leave a child alone. Besides if you have noticed it who else might have seen the same thing and not be feeling osrry for her, but be lying in wait. There are too many sisckos out there to ever trust your child being left alone.

Answer 3

Every citizen has a responsibility to report child abuse and neglect if it is suspected. What would you do if something happened to that little girl while she was home alone and you had said nothing. You would have to live with that for the rest of your life. I work in social work. You can call social services and report this anonymously. They will not tell your neighbor who reported them. Then, they will check it out and it is off your shoulders and maybe this child will no longer be left alone. If you witness them leaving the child alone, don't wait on social servieces, b/c it may take them a while to get to it. If you know she is home alone call the police immediatly to prevent this child from being hurt. I have a 6 year old and I can't imagine leaving this child alone for 10 minutes!

Answer 4

My parents left me home alone all the time at a very young age maybe even younger then 6. A nice neighbor was bothered by it and offered to watch me for $1 an hour. So when I woke up in the morning i would just walk down to her house (folks worked 1st shift in the summers). Maybe you could offer something like that, they may feel as though they have no other option as ridiculous as it may seem to you or I it could be a real possibility. If they turn you down and you are still concerned then I would call protective services, better to be safe then sorry because if something happened you may feel responsible for not saying something.

tough spot...good luck!

Answer 5

Call child services. It is dangerous for a 6 year old to be home alone. She could burn the house down or fall and nobody would be there to help her. Does this man have anybody he can ask to watch the little girl when he's not home? If he's off somewhere with his girlfriend that is abuse. Maybe you can also talk to the child's mom.

Answer 6

You should talk to your neighbour. Single parents have a hard time already. He shouldn't be at his girlfriend's if his daughter is alone. Work, unfortunately, is a part of life. Maybe he needs to find someone to help bridge that 2 hour gap he has. If he isn't interested in listening to you, then you should call "outside help".

Times have changed over the years - I remember walking home by myself in a big city at the age of 8, from school. I had been wandering on my own from age 5. That's a long time ago. I wouldn't dream of letting my own kids do the same thing!!

Talk to your neighbour - maybe even offer to help.

Answer 7

If I knew the little girl was home alone and she knew me,I would go next door and ask her if she wanted to come over and play with my little girl which is about the same age.Then I would sit outside untill the father got home and walk across the yard and really kick the shitout of him.Then I would call CPS.

Answer 8

First talk to your neighbor. This is no excuse, but maybe he didn't know she was home alone for so long. Go over and check on the little girl while she is home alone, and leave a note for the dad. If he's pissy, tell him you're calling child protective services on him. But please don't call them without saying something first. I've had them called on me when my neighbor thought she saw something and heard something that she didn't. She said I was leaving my kids alone and that wasn't the case at all. I understand you've seen this happen but please talk to him first! This little girl doesn't deserve to be ripped from her daddy's arms by CPS unless it's a good reason.

Answer 9

I'm 47 years old,raised 3,I have 2 grandchildren.

Next time you think the child is alone,call the police.Tell them its confidential.But please do it,if something horrable was to happen ,you would have to be locked in a mental ward because of the thought of "what I should have done".I know you must really be struggling with this,but forget about you own fears and feelings ,and do what is best for the child.

God Bless You.

Answer 10

well, the first thing i would do is watch the house for a little longer, maybe, just maybe someone was there that you dont know about. maybe next time you suspect she is home alone go knock on the door. if you are absolutely sure that she is home alone either call CPS or your local police department and let them know, she is too young to be home alone. how sad. : (

Answer 11

If you know he is leaving his daughter alone in the house then you really need to call the authorities in your area. If your not comfortable with that at least let the grandmother know what's going on. That really is sad. Just think you may be the one to save that little girl's life.