what do you think is an appropriate age for a teenager to be left home alone?

Question

she's mostly a good kid. has had some trouble attending school, lots of unexcused absences (cuts) she has been known to drink. please let me know what you think. thanks.

she has been attending n.a. meetings for over 6 months and seems really down on her friends who drink and do drugs. i agree with not leaving her home alone. her dad however, disagrees with me. i just wanted some other points of view. thanks.

time frame- 5 to 7 hours.

Answer 1

The child and trust has more to do with staying alone then age. If for 6 months she has been doing well, I'd say give her some trust time, but not for a very long period of time. If she can show you that trust has been earned, give her more time if she wishes to stay alone. Just be sure to let her know that trust is very important and earned trust will give great rewards for her.

Answer 2

My son is 17. He's a good student that has been offered a scholarship to Baylor University. He's never been in trouble. I say all of this, not to compare him to your child, but you tell you that I am going out of town this weekend and it will be the very first time I have ever left him home alone. I usually have my sister come stay with him. He can go out, but still has to be home by curfew, that sort of thing. I go out of town every 2 or 3 months for the weekend it seems or during the week for work.

So, like I said, this weekend, I'm letting him stay home alone. I've laid out the ground rules and will actually put them in writing. Plus, since his curfew is midnight--I'm having my sister drive by to make sure there's not a party going on!

If your daughter respects you house rules, which I think is very different from respecting the school's rules, then follow your gut. If you think she can do ok on her own and not throw a party, then give her the chance to prove that she is responsible. However, since you don't say how old she, that's really your call. If you do leave her home alone, you do like I am, and have a grown up do a drive by---then, if she's doing right, she'll never know you checked up on her. If she's doing wrong....she'll be busted on the spot! (My sister will walk into my house if it appears there is anything out of the norm going on).

In short--you know your daughter best--follow your instincts.

Answer 3

No specific age---just a matter of maturity. If she's already been getting into trouble, I'd be a little leary of leaving her for 5-7 hrs alone. That's a lot of alone time with friends, boyfriend, etc if she knows mom & dad won't be home until a certain time. If possible, I'd start out leaving her about an hour to two hours unattended and then have someone drop in on her to check things out. (like grandma, or a responsible neighbor)

Answer 4

Okay....are you talking about leaving her home alone all night or for a few hours while you and your husband go out for dinner? While she may be a "mostly a good kid", it isn't like she hasn't fallen from grace a time or two. Cutting school and drinking is a problem. She would have to prove herself first before I would allow her to stay home alone. If you feel compelled to do it, I would allow her to be at home for say an hour and assign her some household chores that you expect to be done while your gone. Chances are she'll want to go with you!

Answer 5

Its puzzling. From what i have heard there are not any legal duties to save your daughters with an adult yet when something takes position and a baby is less than 14, then you absolutely will be presumed negligent. i will't bear in ideas the position I heard this from. Its complicated because you've a baby who's less than this age yet is amazingly very responsible or you're able to have little ones over 14 who're hopeless and ought to open the door to everybody, would not word a hearth in a diverse room etc. that is a judgement call contained in the proper. regardless of the indisputable fact that so that you'll be able to positioned the protection of the ten 3 hundred and sixty 5 days previous contained in the fingers of the 12 is a tremendous element to do. i for my area ought to attempt asking a neighbour or yet another mum in the period in-between till the childminder is better effective, or attempt re-negotiating your hours. i imagine you ought to sense horrendous if one or both one among them got here to any dissatisfied. you gained't have peace of ideas. it really is my view. i don't understand the position @eire above, lives yet contained in the united kingdom, if a figure left little ones of those a at the same time as residing house on my own and social amenities got here upon out, the little ones ought to discover themselves taken into care.

Answer 6

13 or 14 is a decent age. Your daughter may be acting out with her drinking and skipping school because you have too tight of a grip on her. I don't know your living situation nor your daughter's age, but i think 5 to 7 hours by herself is way too long if she is in her early teens, if in her later teens that would be a more reasonable amount of time to leave her. When asking a question like this of other people they need to know more about the situation before giving advise.

Answer 7

A mature 16 year old would be ok for a day. There are laws about how long you can leave a child alone especially if over night. Check your states laws. Your child however is not emotionally mature enough yet or trustworthy enough and should not be left alone ever until she has earned a lot of trust. If you do, you take a big risk.

Answer 8

Give her some responsibilities, cut off any money she gets, and ground her!

Left alone? She has to earn it. Kids these days act like that because they get everything for free.

Do you want her to be a beggar when she grows up, or over dependent?

But I guess you probably want to go out, so you don't want to be stuck with her 24/7 right? Well, get her a job at the local supermarket or something, or mowing lawns, or walking the neighbor's dog, or allow her to join a few sports.

Normally, I'd say 13 is old enough to babysit (responsibility keeps most kids out of trouble), but I wouldn't want a drinking cutting teenager babysitting my kids.

Answer 9

i wasn't left at home alone until I was like 14 or 15 I didnt even babysit for other people yet. I think she might be getting into the wrong crowd cause she's cutting class. I remember when I was young(er) and I used to steel my dad's boose while he was out. When I got a little older and figured out how to drive without my licence I stole my dad's truck but got caught and then he used to start putting his keys under his pillow. I turned out ok in the end, I'm happilly married with 2 kids now but It could have been worse cause I was with the wrong crowd and only did it to be the "cool" one of us all. Best of luck with her I just hope she has a smart head on her shoulders.I'm sure all will turn out well!

Answer 10

sounds like she maybe has been alone a little too much already. Are you talking about alone for a few hours or for a weekend? I would be cautious letting a kid that cuts school and drinks stay alone for a weekend. It depends on the kid. I have a 17 year old that we do not allow to stay home alone for a weekend as he has proven untrustworthy. And while we would never let her stay home alone, his 11 year olds sister can handle herself better than her big brother can.