Is it good to leave your 11 yr old at home alone? (It's a boy!)?

Question

Just want some opinions on your feelings about this matter.

Answer 1

i think that, if you feel your son is responsible enough to be alone at 11 then ok... but i wouldn't leave him for hours on end, no..

i also believe the law says they have to be at least 12 years old in many States?

if you have to go to the store, and won't be gone long, you can try leaving him home if he doesn't want to go and see how it works out?

that's my best answer.

Answer 2

Yes, but just for a few minutes during the day. Before doing so, you'd have to check that he knows all the house rules and knows what to do in an emergency.
Make rules such as that he can't answer the door, or if you have a chain on the door then he has to keep that on if he opens the door. Don't let him answer the phone, either - the answering machine/service can get it.
Do not leave an eleven year-old home at night. I'm sixteen now and my mum used to leave me home alone during the day from when I was about twelve, but I was fifteen before I was left alone at night (although a large factor in that was that my sister is two years younger). Even if you live in a good neighbourhood, kids should be supervised until they're old enough that you can trust them to go to bed at bedtime and not watch TV shows that you have forbidden.
Gender shouldn't play a part in your decision, although if you think it matters then remember that girls mature faster than boys.

Answer 3

For an hour during the day, while you run to the grocery store, sure.

For a few hours after school if there's a neighbor around who he can contact in case of emergency? Maybe. If he's generally responsible and mature.

But at night? Maybe it's because we live in an urban area that isn't incredibly safe, but I wouldn't do it.

If he does okay with scenarios A and B, I might consider it in a year or two. But even then, I wouldn't leave him home late.

If you live in a small town or a close-knit community, I can see that the answer might be different.

Answer 4

I feel like this is more a matter of individual maturity than chronological age. Some 11 year old boys would be fine at home alone, and others -- no way!

Answer 5

We leave ours home alone for a few hours at a time.
He has autism and knows the routine, procedures in emergencies, not answering the door or the telephone unless it is us or his grandparents, etc.

It really depends on the maturity of the child. We have neighbors across the street with an 11 year old and I wouldn't leave them alone at all...ever.

Check in when you are out though and leave a number or your cell phone handy when you are away.

I was left home alone starting at age 9. Times have changed but if your child is mature and knows the rules, it's ok.

Answer 6

Depends. Is he comfortable with the idea of staying home alone? Maybe for the first time, leave him home while you run a quick errand; no more than an hour. Of course, remind him of the rules of answering the phone and the door while you are away.

Answer 7

It's bad to leave any kid home alone. There is too much that can go wrong.

He tries to cook something because he gets hungry....burns the house down.

Tries doing laundry and floods the house.

Invites friends in and they trash the house

or even worse...he leaves...and ends up hurt or in trouble.

The biggest problem parents have with kids are the parents themselves... too much time alone is never a good thing.

Answer 8

No, absolutely not.
You'd never forgive yourself if anything happened to him. You just never know who's watching that house, and I think leaving him home alone is a dreadful risk. It's not worth it.
Also, if it's a boy, he's highly unlikely to tell you if he's not comfortable with it for fear of feeling not grown up enough, or thought of as babyish. Boys often don't like to disclose their fears, and won't necessarily be honest about it, even if prompted. He shouldn't be under that pressure.
If there's any way you can avoid it, I would.

Answer 9

It depends on how mature he is..if he's mature already and you trust him and you feel that he would be okay to leave alone, to start out you could go do a an errand that is really short then if he does good, then increase the time you spend and do stuff that takes longer and see how that goes.

Answer 10

Some 11 year olds like to experiment with different things, so make sure you set some rules on what he can/can't do. If he can follow them, then I don't see why he shouldn't stay home alone.