babysitters?

My oldest is only 9 so we have a few years yet. I'm thinking right now he would have to be 12 to either stay home or baby sit. I don't see him being ready in less than a year. If he were to babysit our other kids I would not leave him with my now 7 year old but depending I think he'd be fine with the younger 2 in a few years. We only have family/friends watch them... I would be very uncomfortable leaving them with a teenager.

I never babysat as a teenager, but I had friends who did. One of my best friends did things while babysitting that has (unfairly) tarnished my image of teen babysitters. I didn't think much of it at the time, but now that I have kids of my own I know I'd be livid if I had a babysitter doing the things she was doing when she was supposed to be watching my kids. If I knew the teen really well, I'd probably be OK with letting a teenager watch my kids.