Why is it "bad" to leave a 7-year old boy alone in a 2-story house?

Question

I just got in "trouble" for leaving him alone for 1.5 hrs in my house while I went to the gym. I am a first-time dad. I adopted this boy when he was 3 years old. I think he is of reasonable intelligence and I left him lots of verbal instructions ... don't do this, don't do that, etc.

Answer 1

I want to commend you for adopting,and taking on being a single dad.Those are big shoes to fill.Obviously,you do not understand the inner workings of the mind of small children.
I think you need to seek out some parenting classes,and learn more about the growth and development of children .I am not saying you are a bad parent,but you could be an even better parent and improve on some of your parenting skills. You are going to have to plan better,around your child,if you want to go to the gym. Do it while he is in school. You may have to get creative and use a combination of things to make sure your child is not left alone again. Get a babysitter. Babysit for another parent,and in return they do the same for you. Sign your child up for an activity he will enjoy,and while he is there,go to the gym.Look into per need or drop in daycare services.Talk to all your family and close friends about babysitting for you from time to time. Join a support group for single parents. If you have a two story house and you have an extra room,find a senior, or a college student to move in . You provide room and board and a small salary.I could go on and on. I think you see there are quite a number of creative solutions to your situation,
I know you have heard and read many stories about terrible things that have happened to kids left home alone.Perhaps you think your child will be the one to follow all the instructions you gave him,but I bet those other parents did also. Small children are not equipped to handle adult responsibility, or perform tasks not appropriate for their age.

Answer 2

Does he know his address? Does he know how to call 911? Does he have somewhere to go in an emergency? Does he know how to memorize phone numbers? Stop, drop and roll? Most 7 year olds aren't capable of all of that and then the part of not answering the door, or phone... etc. At 7, he's probably fine for you to run to a neighbor's house to get a cup of sugar or pick up the mail, but 1 1/2 hours in a 7 year old's world is a big chunk of time. Get a gym membership somewhere that provides childcare. Its a much safer option.

Just an FYI for everyone though, most states do not have set ages regarding when a child is old enough to stay home by themselves, and I'd venture to guess that most people in my age group were staying home alone and babysitting before 13. NOT that I am condoning leaving a 7 year old home alone to go to the gym, by any stretch of the imagination.. but the answers of "ohemgee, its illegal," are not factual.

Answer 3

I do think 7 years old is a bit too young. I would wait till he is at least 13....I have to agree that some kids can be letft alone a bit younger than 13 (it depends on the maturity level), but still 7 is too young. Maybe you could find a responsible teen who would be willing to watch your child while you went to your gym. Also, many gyms nowdays offer free childcare facilities with their gym membership...I would check out your options. I don't necessarily think you are a bad guy, just a man, so I am not going to give you a hard time cause I am sure you would never do anything to intentionally harm your child....

Answer 4

in case of an emergency! you would hope that your 7 year old would be able to handle himself but what if someone broke into you house, or he got hungry and tried to cook himself something like a big boy and started a fire, what if he was eating a snack and started choking, how bout he gets a chair to try and reach something and falls seriously injuring himself! are you kidding!? there are way to many senarios as to why to not leave a CHILD alone, especially for an hour and a half! that leaves a LOT of time for something to go seriously wrong. Was it worth the risk, what would you have done if something DID happen!! dont leave him alone again!

Answer 5

By "two story house" do you mean a double home where someone is living in the other half, or the house just has two stories? IF you mean a double home and the other party was home at the time, you MAY be able to get out of this if they will help you out. I'm hoping that this was the case and you let the other party know he was alone for a little while. Otherwise, yes it is illegal and dangerous and I wouldn't advise doing it again.

Answer 6

first off, don't listen to the people who say it is illegal. It might be illegal, but hard to say, look into that
it is a bad idea, id wait till they are at least 12 or 13.
on top of that an hour and a half?
Its not like you left him alone for 10 minutes to go get some milk.
The worst part is that you know you are wrong, but want people on here to say"oh yeah, its cool"
its not, too young, too long.

Answer 7

Are you crazy you can't leave a 7 year old home alone its against the law for one thing no matter how mature you think he is he's just a child. Doesn't your gym have daycare. Legally children can't be left alone until there 13. Good Luck

Answer 8

Not to even get on the subject of child molestors, the boy starting a fire, falling, climbing, pulling furniture over, etc......

He is simply too young----even if nothing happens, it's a huge burden on him to be left alone by an adult, emotionally.
He (if he's an only child) feels terrific fear that you will never come back, and that he will be alone forever---he knows he can't survive, that he's totally dependent on adults to live.
This is child-neglect.
If it continues, the child will think it is NORMAL to feel this way---unhappy, alone, terrified, forgotten.
How you treat him (precious, one-of-a-kind, protected, valuable, etc.) is how he will treat himself as an adult.

You do not want him to treat himself badly as an adult, do you? What you're doing now, at his age, is forming the rest of his life, and his self-image, forever.

Answer 9

Because things happen. Fires break out. Strangers break in. Things fall. People choke. Kids trip and fall. Intelligence is no barrier to any of these events.

You don't want to come home to a fire truck, several squad cars and a paramedic unit, neighbors looking gravely on, and reporters asking questions. Trust me on this. Don't do it again.

Answer 10

Because he is 7. He is a child. He needs supervision. He could get hurt. No 7 yr old is "responsible" enough to be left alone.