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At what age should kids* be allowed to stay home alone?

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    #16
    Re: At what age should kids* be allowed to stay home alone?

    I think independence has to be a gradually increasing thing, as the parent judges the child's development. This depends on an observant and sensible parent, though. For home alone, we would start with 15 minute intervals and worked our way up. For longer after school periods, I think a general rule is about 9 or 10. A little older for nighttime, because kids get scared. For all day- say parents working and child off for the day, I would say more like 12, again depending on the child. Then it gets tricky, because I think from 14 on, my kids would stay alive fine for a few days, but the temptation to do something stupid is pretty strong in the teen years. For venturing out on their own, it was a similar system; there were times when we encouraged independence, but were supervising more than they thought.

    When my older child was in elementary, there were lots of other children in the neighborhood. There was an unofficial system in which there was always at least one parent in a front yard doing chores, or visiting with other neighbors in the front. This let the kids feel independent wandering the street, but there was always an adult paying attention. This kind of petered off as that batch of kids grew older, but it was really nice. We knew where the kids were.

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