Age when kids can stay home alone??

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-23-2004
Age when kids can stay home alone??
10
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 2:44pm
How old have your kids been to stay home alone? My son is 10 1/2. He is tired of going to the YMCA camp after school. I am currently going thru a divorce and would save alot of money if he just took the bus home after school. He would be staying home alone for about 1 hour till i get off work. Does this seem reasonable to anyone or is he too young.
Avatar for snowbabies97_98
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 3:15pm

Our DS is almost 10 1/2, and I wouldn't be comfortable leaving him alone that long, but then I'm just paranoid, mostly because of where I live.

Rebecca

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-23-2004
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 3:48pm
Thanks for your response. On weekends we never sleep in as we have baseball at 8am. I make him breakfast he doesnt do it himself. I work 5 minutes from home so I think he will be fine. I think the age here in IL is 12 but i guess if no one knows it will be fine. I have left him before but just for a few minutes. I think he will be fine for an hour..tomorrow is the first day we are trying this..wish me luck!!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 3:55pm

I think it depends on his maturity level. Would he be content to stay home alone and inside by himself? Does he get freaked out easy? My oldest wouldn't have been ready at that age but my second one certainly was. I think you should discuss it with him. Do you have a cell phone so he can call you at anytime? If you trust him to come straight home and to follow the rules you set (don't open the door to anyone, computer/video game limits, etc) then I don't see why not. Even more so if you have a trusted adult neighbor he can check in with or go to in case of an emergency.

Denise

Avatar for snowbabies97_98
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 4:14pm

Please please please check on the age requirement first!

Rebecca

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-23-2004
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 4:25pm
Thank you. I will check the age limits for sure. EX and I both agreed on this together but you are right you never know. It will only be twice a week until school is out in a month from now. I have 2 neighbors that are gonna watch him get off the bus and make sure he gets in the house. He is 10 and 5 foot 3 so he actually looks a lot older also LOL
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2004
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 4:43pm
You need to ask yourself if he is ready.......and are you ready? Is there anywhere he can go if something happens? It all depends on how you feel about if he is ready to stay home alone. You could start out small.. go to the store leave him home alone. Go shopping for a little while and leave him at home. See how that works out.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 5:55pm

My son was about that age when I started letting him stay home for about an hour or so until I got home from work.

Have you considered alternatives to the Y. What about the Boys and Girls club? It has more of a "hang out" atmosphere and it's something like $15 per year.

stacy

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 05-09-2007 - 7:07pm
That's when my DD started. She was tired of going to the neighbors' afterschool. So she started coming home for about 90 min. It worked out fine, she took the Home Alone course offered by our Parks and Rec so knew the drill and she's always been a responsible kid so it was fine. If you think he's ready then I'd give it a try. Maybe don't pull him out of Y camp just yet, but let him try it for a week and if he does fine then stop the Y. If he doesn't like it or you find he's not following the rules, then you could just send him back to the Y.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2003
Thu, 05-10-2007 - 12:04am
I really think it depends on the kid!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2005
Thu, 05-10-2007 - 7:21am

I leave my 10 yo home alone. I have no problem with it. I think the longest has been about an hour, but I routinely leave him while I pick my daughter up from piano lessons (it takes about 25 minutes).

Karin

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