what age can a child be left home alone?

Question

At what age do you think a child is old enough to be left home alone?

Answer 1

There is no age barrier... You should know your child well enough, so you should be able to judge... Look at their maturity. Are they responsible? Are they daredevils? Do they wreck the house usually when the parents are home?

These are a few questions you should ask yourself...

Answer 2

There are a lot of depending factors....maturity of the child, length of time left alone and time of day.
I think that as a general rule, you should not even consider leaving them alone until ar least age 10. At age ten, if the child is mature enough and knows what to do in an emergency, then a couple of hours during the day should be the limit. The reason I say that it is based on maturiy is that I have 5 children ages 12, 10, 10, 9, and 2months. the 12 and 10 year old are mine and the other 10 year old and the 9 year old are my step kids....then of course, the baby is ours.
My 12 year old daughter (almost 13) is very mature and responsible. She can stay home alone for an extended amount of time during the day or evening. (also, we have good neighbors, and family that is less than a mile away). But, I can't leave her with the 9 year old girl because they would probably kill each other! The boys are both 10. One of them is totally capable of being home alone, while the other is not. All based on maturity. And the 9 year old...no way! Not even when she is 10 or even 12....she gets in to way too much trouble even when we are home.
Obviously I raised my kids differently than the way my step children are being raised...but their mom started leaving them home alone at ages 7 and 8, and they would get into lots of trouble and definately should NOT have been left alone. We are not willing to take that chance.
So, give it a trial run for a short time and see how they do. Make sure they can get ahold of you if they need to and that they know what to do in an emergency.

Answer 3

Depends on the child, what time of day, and for how long he is being left.

I left my 9-10 year old at home alone for a couple of hours at a time on a Saturday morning when he was busy watching cartoons, I was out antiquing or shopping, I had my phone with me and was free to talk if he called.

He is twelve now, and I may leave him for more hours on a Saturday when all he has to do is play and visit friends. He is very good about only going where he is supposed to go.

During the week, however, I have my parents at the house in the afternoon. Not because it is unsafe for him to be at home, but because he doesn't need to spend that much time alone and he is more productive when there is someone there with him.

I've almost never left him alone after dark.

Answer 4

12-13. But alot depends on their maturity. Some can handle it for a couple hours in the afternoon at 10-11. Then there are others who have no business being left alone at 14.

Answer 5

Nighttime - 13 is fine, as long as it's not overnight and not later than 10 pm.
Daytime - 9 or 10 years old, depending on maturity and length of time. An hour or so is fine at this age, if the child agrees.

Answer 6

It depends on the child. Some kids are more mature than others. I would suggest having them stay home alone as a trial first, just for a little bit. Fourth grade seems like a good time to try it.

Answer 7

18

Answer 8

when they are about 12-14 year old i feel that all child under 6-10 are not safe to stay at home alone when there are not parent in T ALL

Answer 9

16

Answer 10

in canada, they can be 9 and 11(with babysitting course) looking after another child, if not 12. However personally I think these ages are much too young. Realistically I would say 13 but even then it is being risky.