Just wondering what age is ok to start leaving my kid at home alone?
Mobile phone…check
Ipad with facetime…check
And for how long too?
TIA
What Age Is Ok to Start Leaving Kids at Home?
grabngo on 04/07/2017 - 19:25
Last edited 07/07/2017 - 12:27 by 1 other user
Last edited 07/07/2017 - 12:27 by 1 other user
Comments
- 1
- 2
I guess this is a joke, or you mean for an overnight. You can join the defence forces at 16 1/2, so I would suggest society expects average 16yro people to hold substantially more responsibility than just looking after themselves by this age range.
Do 16 year olds in the defence force need to take care of themselves? Aren't their officers basically pseudo-parents? I've never been in the defence force, but my impression was that soldiers are more than just a little bit "supervised" at all times, lol…
Your impression of 16 year old soldiers based on your experience of never having been in the defence force or seen 16 year old soldiers in the defence force?
@saintmagician0: Yeah. To clarify, I'm not confident. I just found it an interesting comparison and was curious. What do you think?
Are you sure about that 16 1/2 thing? I always thought that was the earliest they could start applying.
Nope. It was younger when I was a kid, and I just took the top google link, so I'm happy to be corrected. Pick another responsible role like joining the RFS (16yro), giving blood (16) etc.
Curiosity got to me.
http://www.defencejobs.gov.au/recruitment-centre/can-i-join/…
You can join the ADF at 17 but start your application earlier if you wish.
To apply for a career in the Navy, Army or Air Force you must be at least 16 years and 6 months old, though you can start thinking about a career in the ADF much earlier
I'd graduated high school before my 17th birthday, and had lived out of home for a year and finished my first year of university before my 18th birthday. People won't leave kids that age alone at home by themselves?
I remember being free to roam the neighbourhood of the small town I lived in at 8 - as long as I was home by dark. From about 12 on, I was could basically go where I wanted in the larger town that we'd moved to - including spending the day in the forest nearby.
when you are an adult
age of kids - whatever…. :)
Even when they are adults?
Hell, I'm an adult, & I probably should have an adult around at all times!
i could certainly use an adult
Can vary MASSIVELY depending on their maturity level. Start out with smaller absences first - go down to the shops for 20-30 minutes before you have a weekend away. Work your way up and see how they respond.
I think this is the best advice.
While I agree with others that the chance of a Home Alone stranger danger incident is nil, you need to have kids who can deal with the unexpected.
If little Johnny decides it is the perfect time to cook 2 minute noodles when you have just left for the supermarket, it isn't hard to see things getting out of hand when someone gets a minor burn and their sibling reacts inappropriately (by freaking out and calling an ambulance, for example). It is how they handle that type of thing (including deciding it isn't a good time to start cooking) that establishes if they are mature enough to be trusted.We have 3 responsible kids and one risk taker (2nd youngest). We have had no trouble with them staying at home alone or looking after a younger sibling (for younger kids of school age) from the age of 8 or 9 except in the odd circumstance where the eldest was the risk taker. He is 11 now, and has only recently crossed this milestone.
But we have our kids walk themselves to school from quite young, and are unattended for an hour or more each school day from high school as they make their way on public transport. The idea you can catch a Sydney train alone at the age of 11, but not look after yourself while Mum & Dad go out for a bit is laughable.I have friends with kids who always get driven to school, sport, friend's houses etc. and have never been left alone at all, and those kids are less able to deal with something on their own. The idea of progressive increases in responsibility is very sensible, it isn't like these kids will magically be responsible at 13yro if they aren't at 12.
Our eldest is 16 now, and we haven't left her in charge overnight while we are away. I expect next time a circumstance comes up where that is helpful, we will do so. Certainly, when she gets her driving licence next year I can see no reason why she couldn't take on the duties of looking after a house and some reasonable kids for a night. I view the responsibility of driving alone as much greater.
So for mature kids: quick trip to the shop or to drop a sibling at a friends or something less than 30mins: age 8 or 9. At home alone long enough to require them to have a meal (parents at an evening function or leaving them for 3 or 4 hours): start of high school. Look after themselves overnight: 16ish.
If we take Hollywood movies (Home Alone series) as an example, maybe 8? probably best not to have a kid that will set up lethal traps in your house however.
In recent news, this couple in Brisbane were charged for leaving their kids alone. One aged two and another aged eleven.
Rightly so, too.
I dunno, I was smoking ciggies and rocking a nutella moustache at age 2…
Rightly so.
I dunno, like 3?
No legal age for leaving children home alone. There's no one law in Australia that says at what age you can or can't leave your child home alone. In Queensland if you leave a child under 12 years of age for an 'unreasonable time' without supervision you have committed a misdemeanour.
I leave my 11 year old at home whilst I go to the super market. she had my mobile number. I'm gone ~45 minutes.
misdemeanour ?
Is that USA QLD ?
No offense but I really feel if you have to ask this question, take whatever figure you come to and add 5 years.
As for your reference to mobile phone and ipad with facetime, I would highly suggest putting something on the ipad that allows you to force facetime or monitoring of its use (like websites) remotely. Sadly I come from the android world so I can't give a plethora of suggestions but if you would like some, reply and I'll look them up.Yeah, kids will never work out how to get around that!
Well, like I said I can't comment on the apple ecosystem but I feel there would definitely be ways in that ecosystem to accomplish that, especially when I think to being around my nieces and nephew every 5 minutes asking for the itunes password to be put in.
For android, I would love to see a kid get around one of the systems you can setup without rooting/formatting the device entirely.. That kid would have a future in the security industry and quite possibly already dipping their feet into the world of pentesting and exploits.
Why shorten (arguably) the best job title ever?
Penetration Tester
My 12yro was jailbreaking and rooting his devices without any encouragement from me (brought a tear to the old man's eye).
Maybe I should have put some kiddy safe blocking stuff in place to inspire them to understand their technology at an even earlier age!@mskeggs: Haha, that's a good way to think about it, role reversal.. just make sure it is real kiddy safe blocking stuff as thats usually the weakest and the best starting block for them to get past.
I hadn't really thought about it until now (since I'm 25 and without offspring as of yet) but do you have 2 'talks' with the kids now? 1 about the birds and the bees and 1 about google? (actually the birds and the bees probably falls under the google clause heh)
@dfaktz:
I have a lot of talks, covering things ranging from the biological elements of reproduction, to what is acceptable to display on social media, to how to treat people of the opposite sex with respect, and how to make sure you are treated equally well.My comment that technical solutions are a disappointment was with the view that if you don't instil values in children that will lead them to being responsible, blocking them from irresponsibility until their abilities or age allows them to overcome the blocks will be a bad outcome.
My boys know that I can appreciate their mum in a swim suit, and recognise a movie star in a tight dress is attractive, but that ogling or cat calling is disrespectful.
They also know I would be disappointed in them accessing porn that is degrading to the participants, and they would have a long and involved lecture on feminism from their mum. On the other hand, if somebody had a crack at them for looking at soft core stuff I'd be likely to take their side and want to know why that person was trying to make them feel shame about something pubescent boys are very curious about.And the flipside applies to girls too, but perhaps in different ways, e.g. where a daughter might be toying with the attentions of a boy who likes her is also disrespectful.
So you need to start early, be consistent, adapt to their growing maturity, and be realistic. If you forbid knowledge of (e.g.) nudity to kids, it won't be till the school bus on the first day of Yr 7 that some meat head shows them rape porn on their phone that your kids begin to shape their values in that area. And that will be too late.
I reckon the same goes for drugs & alcohol, crime, 'adult' movies/games, gambling and I suppose most of the other things people consider vices. Better to have discussions and knowledge than toss it all behind the door marked 'forbidden'.
@mskeggs: Dammit why can't I give more than one positive vote?
My kids are 9 and 7. I think you have great advice.@mskeggs: What a refreshing attitude and a modern, full circle approach and what a jump this approach must give them in life. Would be proud to have you as my parent.
Reading through makes me realize you're also promoting SJW-ready children that won't even bother with those ideals or debates as they have the critical thinking not to.A random, few drinks deep comment I would latch on to specifically the end of what you said is, moderation (especially in vices) is the key to life and can take decades learning the hard way.
..You have my sought after seal of approval for reproduction! Keep em comin'
You might be disappointed in me if you come from an absolutist view of social justice. I argue with my eldest kids, and their mum about restrictions they would be comfortable to enforce on language, else that alone makes the speaker discriminatory, and I think the focus, especially in the American media, on social inclusion issues has been a disastrous distraction from higher priority economic inequality issues.
But I would say that as a middle class white male.I will say that I think people generally must earn respect, and I am as dismissive of somebody 'demanding' my respect whether they are vice principal of a private boy's school or women's studies lecturer, to pick a couple of opposite examples of strawpeople who often rely on appeals to authority.
Without root kit and jailbreak apps but with some guidelines? Yes
Just using those tools? No. At most, they could get interested in to the area but hard to say you actually dipping in to it.
If the one has some engineering mind and always curious about "how" it works? then I could agree with you but the most don't.
If your plan to deal with the nasties in the world for your kids is to shield them from discovering them, you will have a series of disappointments.
I don't really see how thats in the context of what I was suggesting, especially cause I added that part due to the OP's description being 50% about iphone/ipad.
Personally, I heavily agree with your mindset.
My parents left me home alone at 8 once and went away without me. Felt like an eternity. Initially it was actually pretty fun not having the adults around, could make toast when i wanted, jump on my parents' bed, blast the TV. But things got pretty boring and lonely pretty quick. Some random idiots from hood must've been scoping my place out realising my parents were gone and tried breaking in. What they didn't realise was that my house was pretty well fit-out with security cuz my parents dumped a heap of money into home security. I was home when they were trying to break in and I first thought to call the cops, but instead started booby trapping all the entry points. The idiots ended up with 3rd degree burns, PTSD, shattered vertebrae, you name it.
Anyway that was a long time ago and now I'm just a ghost of my former great self; lonely and irrelevant in today's society.
That's a pretty awesome story! You should try and get a movie or something made of it… ah probably wouldn't do that well anyway I guess…
Yeah, what could we call a movie about a young boy left home alone?
Maybe "The Boy Who Was Left In His House By Himself"?
Die Hard? Or has that been used already…
Geez, I hope your parents learnt a lesson and didn't leave you at home alone a second time!
Second time wasn't so bad but there's like 4 or 5 of those movies and my kids love them. Budget kept going down. Drives me up the wall. Fortunately they have been taught to separate fact from fiction.
oh wow that's a pretty nice job done by an eight year old!
What did you do- tell us a bit more!
If only they'd left you with an iPad with FaceTime, it could have ended differently.
lonely and irrelevant in today's society.
Oh really ? And I suppose you have you're own church now too?
https://www.facebook.com/thechurchofmacaulayculkin/your
gotcha
TIL ozbargain is the new reddit.
Didn't read the question well enought. Ingore my reply. 12 years old is fair (in my case), just lock the booze up
You shouldnt leave kids alone till they are above the age of 21, which is when their brain stops developing.
I think most people in there 30's still aren't developed lol.
they never will then
Now that's a worry. We left our daughter home at 20 and then found out via technology that she had eight people over to drink and vomit and… I'd hope their commonsense continues to develop after that.
It is actually around 25 that the brain develops to the point that sensible decisions can be made.
Unless you're a Trump supporter, then that never happens!
If that were true the human race would have perished. 13 and 14 year olds were considered adults a few hundred years ago. Basically once you hit puberty.
However, letting them hit the booze hard from 18 years old (or probably more like around 15-16 for many) is totally OK, coz 'STRAYA!
Brain development continues until the 30s, so no.
It's true - I knew everything at 21, now I know nothing.
Oh yeah facetime really going to help against criminals
Daddy! Someone's here!!!
Listen, son their going to take you…
Hahaha looks like a great movie, thanks for the recommendation!
It does! But PG13+?
This works when the parents have a very particular set of skills, skills they have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make a nightmare for people like the criminal.
Do you live in a ghetto or somewhere where you leave the doors unlocked for days and no one cares?
Everyone is different, our kids let them selves in after primary school off the bus. Only for under an hour. They know there are friendly neighbours next door and good friends a few min walk away if necessary. Tell them about stranger danger, not to answer the door and call us if anything goes wrong.
stranger danger
This largely doesn't exist.
I mean it does but if you wanted to get rid of your child by stranger kidnapping you would wait an average of 750,000 years using the risk profile of the USA. It almost never happens. People have a far higher chance of being struck by lightning.
Unfortunately children face far greater danger from people they or their family already knows.
So you aren't going to teach your kids about stranger danger? I don't live under a rock, but I don't think that all strangers are pedophiles, so I'll give my kids some info to help them decide when something is not right. 'Normal' adults won't approach an unknown kid in the street and ask them to get into a car, they won't follow them home and ask an unknown kid to help 'find their dog'. I want my kids to know that stuff.
Unfortunately you are right in that kids are more at risk for those they know and also need to be taught what is acceptable and what is not and when to speak up.
On the flip side I don't want my kids friends to be afraid of me either, most people are of no risk.
The stranger danger ones are more likely to reach the news even though statistically they are much more likely to be in danger from people they know.
Although parents often fear that strangers will abuse their children, it has been well-documented that most child sex offenders are known to their victims.
Source Australian Institute of CriminologyDoesn't hurt to teach your child some protective behaviours though.
Unfortunately children face far greater danger from people they or their family already knows
Yeah, but this is partly because most kids are taught about stranger danger, so there's less risk they'll get into a car with some random dude or whatever…
12 ish?
Lock the doors. Tell them not to open the door for anyone…
Check in with them every couple of hours.
Yup - told my daughter this. She didn't even open the door for the courier I was expecting. Good on her !
She is 14 now, and we often leave her alone when we go out.
She knows the problem solving drill - Stop, breathe, think.
Depends where you live and how long I reckon. Personally I'd go:
12 to 13 would be a couple hours at home assuming they are mature enough
14 to 16 would be after school until dinner time no problems (half or a whole day),
16 (mature) to 17 onwards and they can live on their own.I'm no parent though so this is just my guess.
I think I had my first empty house jazz session at around 13.. great times had my pants down to my ankles no headphones. If I could go back I would in a heartbeat dial up and all.
White shirt, ray bans and sliding across the floor at the bottom of the stairs in your socks?
Why was "no headphones" important?
So I could hear "the music" nice and clearly :)
@Euphemistic & @casho, I think you should rethink what @AlienC means by Jazz session
mine was 12, dad worked afternoon shift
Lots of music was most certainly played that day.
hahahahah
oh god i spat my coffee out trying not to laugh
Clean up isle 3
Clean up on aisle 3 indeed ;) lennyface.jpg
48, 30 minutes at a time.
hmm i have a parenting dilema, i know! ill ask the bargain hunting internet forum known for suggesting bikies to everything most of whom would leave their newborn for a good sale on eneloops
so yeah bikies
seriously though this is really a how long is a piece of string question, how mature are the kids, is there more then one whatever else, only you know the answer
We have two kids who we have been slowly trying to teach responsibility and sometimes we wonder if they really are mature enough for that.
When they were 7 & 4, they were allowed to go to the shops by themselves and get things like milk and bread. They were watched the whole way from our balcony where we could see them cross the road and enter the store (where we lose eye contact till they come back out).
We have left them home alone for a few hours with the TV turned on and it has not been incident free. We live in an apartment, so less risk of intruders and they know our phone numbers by heart and have access to a phone to call us at any time. But still, they have done things which we have had to add to the list of things they are not to do when adults are not around. Examples include, they went to the shop to get themselves lollies. They did not have keys, so they hatched a plan where the younger one stayed home and the older one went to get the lollies. On his return, the younger one could then buzz him up. It went according to plan, but we had to instill in them what if things did not go to plan - what if the intercom did not work?
Another time, the older one decided it was a good time to do some science experiments that involved matches. Again, thankfully, he did not burn the house down.
Even though we have had such incidents, we do believe that they are old enough to be left home for a couple of hours - just have to keep re-iterating the list of what they are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do.
16.
I guess 4 or 5 years old if they have good understanding of basic things. We usually leave our kid couple of hours by herself if we need to shop or have important things to do. But before we started doing this we went through a check list of safety like
1-she know how to call us and answer the call if she sees our number on the phone (we added photo to make it easier).
2-she never ever open the door for anybody even for us. We did some test, like we knock the door… etc
3-we can see her using the online camera and we usually check on her each 10min.
4-we put everything she may need such as cookies or juice or water.
5-she knows how to go to toilet.
6-usually we are like 20min away from home so we are close by.
7-if she behaves good, we reward her with something from outside.
8-she knows how to turn on the tv and the Wii.Same. 5 is OK they can get themselves from the bus stop to home and watch TV for the 2-3 hours until we get home from work.
They know how to call us (from home phone) if there is a problem. Were hesitant at the start of the school year, but after a couple of weeks we stopped worrying.
my generation: 8 years old
current generation: 22 +are you a dinosaur?
was there an age limit to ozbargain members?
yes
When they stop trying to put knives in the toaster seems like a good age.
Bahahaha when my bro was like 20 toast was on fire and he was about to throw water on the toaster while it was still plugged in lol. I stopped him but maybe i should have let it be lol.
+1 for not letting your brother kill himself
- 1
- 2
When the eldest is at least 14/15/16, and that depends on their maturity level.