At what age can your kids come home themselves?

Question

I won't say the age of my daughter, I just want to know if there is a legal age that kids can be home alone, ie after school. My daughter is very mature for her years, but I don't think she's off a legal age to be home alone, although I trust her completely.Alot of kids are roaming the street, out playing in the dark having to take care of tehmselves at a far younger age. If anyone knows any info I will pleased to hear from you

Answer 1

I live in the Scotland, and just before the kids split up for the school summer holidays we received a letter from the school advising us about the dates of when the new school term started. Amongst this was details about what to do when your child was off sick and how to inform them and what would happen if you didnt. ie if you didnt let them know your child was off sick they would sent an attendance officer to your house to find out why, incase they were playing truant if your child was under the age of 16 and home alone then they would report you to social services . So check your local laws before allowing her home alone.

Answer 2

Hi i think the legal age is 13 but i dont know weather it has changed, go to you local citizens advice or do a web search. But i suppose if you trust your daughter in your own home and she is not going to be causing a nuesance to the neigbours then who is going to know. But if she does cause a neusance then i think the social services can get involves if she is too young to be left home alone. But only you know you daughter. I know what you mean about all the children roaming the streets getting in to trouble some children do take care of themselves and are of a young age. But they are obviously used to this. But i wouldnt compare you leaving your daugter in the house home alone as you are not like there mothers she is looked after propley in your own home.

Answer 3

I dont know if there is a legal age but my 8 year old daughter walks home from school alone although it is only 200 yards up the road.

Answer 4

The legal age that a child can stay home alone is 12. My daughter is 11 and she cannot walk a dog, stay home alone, or babysit until she attains the age of 12. I live in New Brunswick, Canada. As to age limits in the states...i'm clueless.

Answer 5

Hi!

In the UK the legal age is 16.

However, I trusted my kids to come in from school on their own as soon as they started High School. Having said that, my youngest was in his last year at primary and I allowed him to go home on his own.

It's ok until the S H one T hits the fan, and something goes wrong. I.e., if they cook themselves something and start a fire by accident, the parents could be charged with abandonment.

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

It mainly depends on the parents and how much they trust their kids.Are they responsible??Do they follow your rules??
At age 12 they should be mature enough to be home alone for a couple hours after school(have them call you or someone when they get home from school).However I do not recommend leaving kids alone at night until around age 14.

Answer 7

I leave my daughter walk home with her freinds shes 9 in nov and i trust her completely she knows the rules about crossing the road even though the school is down the road,i wouldnt leave her home alone i let her stay in the house on her own if im popping into my mothers she only lives two doors down so it really isnt a worry for me.

Answer 8

In England the law is you have to be 14 to look after someone else but i think it's up to the parents discretion at what age you can leave your own child alone at. As you say she's very mature for her age and nobody can decide that apart from you.

Answer 9

I think the legal age is different per state. I can tell you this ....I let my kids stay home alone at an age that I KNEW was illegal (BOY if you only knew) BUT I taught them well and they followed my directions well so I had no problems. But realistically I am going to say 10 - 11 ish!

Answer 10

there is probably a minimum legal age for kids to be left at home alone, but it will depend on what country you're in. the country i grew up in had a minimum age of 14. you can probably check it out online by searching for child/youth/young person legislation in the country you live in. most governments have pretty good search engines now so it shouldn't be too difficult.