Legal home alone age in your opinion?

Jessica · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 3:58 pm

The legal age to be home alone for minors here is 12 where I live. In where my cousins live its 14. What would you think is the best home alone age?

Adbot · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 3:58 pm

CreepyPirate · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 4:05 pm

Depends what you mean by "home alone" in my book a 13 year old is perfectly capable of looking after him/herself for a day.

Any longer than that and i think you need an adult around who's 18+

MattVortex · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 4:28 pm

CreepyPirate wrote:

Depends what you mean by "home alone" in my book a 13 year old is perfectly capable of looking after him/herself for a day.

Any longer than that and i think you need an adult around who's 18+

o.O

I have been home alone for five days, and I'm 17. The cat gets fed, the dishwasher gets put on, the house gets locked up at night and when I go out.

To be honest, there are certain factors that make a difference, like amount of time etc. I think 10 is an OK age for an hour or two. A whole day, 13 or 14. A week, 16 or 17. Of course, whether or not the person can be trusted to be home alone is also a criterion.

CreepyPirate · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 4:36 pm

MattVortex wrote:

CreepyPirate wrote:

Depends what you mean by "home alone" in my book a 13 year old is perfectly capable of looking after him/herself for a day.

Any longer than that and i think you need an adult around who's 18+

o.O

I have been home alone for five days, and I'm 17. The cat gets fed, the dishwasher gets put on, the house gets locked up at night and when I go out.

To be honest, there are certain factors that make a difference, like amount of time etc. I think 10 is an OK age for an hour or two. A whole day, 13 or 14. A week, 16 or 17. Of course, whether or not the person can be trusted to be home alone is also a criterion

And that's exactly the point i was going to make at you. If they can be trusted.

Just because you're mature enough to be left at home doesn't mean others are. At the end of the day it will come down to the parent and how much trust they have in there kid.

However i wouldn't leave anyone who's not seen as an adult in the eyes of the government at home alone for a long period of time, just in case something happened.

Evelyn · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 5:03 pm

I was twelve when my parents trusted me with the house.

Warren · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 6:16 pm

Well I could probably be left home alone for a week+ and I'm 14, but some of my friends at 15, and one especially, should not be left home alone for more than a day, no way.

It depends on the person, when they're responsible enough.
Minimum age for under 1 hour in my opinion- 8.
Minimum age for under 12 hours- 12.
Minimum age for under 60 hours- 14.
Minimum age for under 168 hours- 16.

And they must be able to demonstrate they're responsible enough somehow.

Adbot · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 6:16 pm

Kyle · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 6:21 pm

Ive been home alone after school since first grade, so 6-7 years of age. I guess it depends on the kid tho.m

Ranging God · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 7:01 pm

I think it all has to do with their maturity.

but if i had to go with a age it would be 11

Mr Pink · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 7:07 pm

12 seems old enough in my eyes. Like several people before me said, it depends if you can trust the person. When I was around 10 I used to stay home by myself during the day in summer since my parents used to work late in June/July. My mom would just cook breakfast and dinner for me at the morning so later I can just go and put them in microwave to warm them whenever I am hungry or feel like eating.

Sidespin · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 7:38 pm

It really depends on the kid, I think 12 is a good age to stay home alone in the night, or for long hours. 10-11 I think should not be home alone late at night or for long periods of time. 13+ can stay home for whole days without any problem... Most of the time

Mushroom Queen · **Posted:** August 27th, 2007, 8:44 pm

I don't think that children under 16 should be left home alone for more than 3-4 hours. It's up to the parent to arrange for people to look after them. Expecting all children to have the maturity to look after themselves is neglectful in a way.

EnglishPenguin · **Posted:** August 28th, 2007, 12:08 am

I'd say it should be around 12. However, where I live, as far as I know there isn;t one. And even if there was, there are never and police to check it, I can't remeber the last time I saw a police car, and I don't know where the police station is. If I had to take a guess, the last time I saw a police car was late at night, about 2 in the morning, when I was hitching with a few friends. And that was at least 2-3 weeks ago.

zvono · **Posted:** August 28th, 2007, 5:11 am

There is a law about that? :-s

CreepyPirate · **Posted:** August 28th, 2007, 5:28 am

zvono wrote:

There is a law about that? :-s

Yes. I -think- the legal age here is 18. Your parents are held responsible if something happens when you're at home alone.

Slimppu · **Posted:** August 28th, 2007, 5:52 am

1-6 hours: 8.
6-12 hours: 9.
1 day: 10-12.
2-5 days: 13-14.
Above: 15-16.

I don't know if there's a law about it in here, though O_o