Most children and teens stay home a lot. Maybe it's too much. Say they get home from school and no one is there. Would that be critical? What do people think of young children at home all alone? Is it bad? What if there is an intruder? How old should you be to stay home alone? Hello, this is Nateenka, signing in.
I thought of children staying home alone. I usually think that you should be 12 and older to stay at home alone. So I asked some people on what they thought of this.
Nateenka: What would you consider "being left at home" to be?
lyd1212: Being left home is just when your parents leave to go run errands or you have gotten home from school and they have not come home yet. It's not a bad thing, just being alone for a short period of time.
PhyscoGrl: When your parents leave to go somewhere and you are all by yourself.
peachadee: Being left at home to me means you're by yourself . . . at home.
rochrox: I think you can really only be "left at home" until a certain age. After you're totally comfortable with chilling by yourself at home, then it's no big deal. For kids around 9, 10, 11 years old, being left at home would be being home alone, with no other people in the house.
Nateenka: Do you think it's right for people under 10 to stay at home alone? Why?
lyd1212: I personally stayed home alone from the time I got home from school to 8 or 9 pm when my parents come home. I would say that I would not have younger kids stay home alone unless it is absolutely imperative. This is because younger children are much more vulnerable. Sadly, so are ladies. This is probably because (in most cases) sexual predators are male. We have to be extremely careful to not mention that we are home alone in a public place because people have been stalked in this way. So I would say, just have younger people stay home with someone else (older) like a sibling or go to a friend's house. You would be safer in a group.
PhyscoGrl: Yes, but rarely. I think the right age for parents to start letting their kids stay home alone at 11 or 12.
peachier: I don't think it's right for kids under 14 to be home by themselves. if anything happens they are not responsible enough yet to deal with it.
rotor: It really depends on the child. I'm pretty sure I was allowed to stay home by myself for short amounts of time when I was 9. However, every child and their parents are different. I know parents who are cool with their kids staying home by themselves when they're 8, but I also know parents who won't let their 11 year olds be home alone. I also know some 11 year olds who wouldn't want to be left home alone! If the child is responsible, and isn't scared of being home alone, I don't see how it's wrong for a child who's 7 or 8 to be left home alone for under an hour or so.
Nateenka: When you're home alone, what do you think of if an intruder comes?
lyd1212: I do not normally think of this because I live in a low-crime area so it is not an issue. But I do sometimes get scared because I think my father or something is stalking me. But only at night. Sometimes, if my dog is going insane, I just find comfort in my blanket. (Ha I'm 15, but it still works!) Or I hide. I just want to get out of harm's way. I also turn off all lights, get out of sight and call my mom and talk calmly. I just overreact though. Sometimes it's the delivery guy and I'm hiding under my desk or something . . .
PhyscoGrl: When I stay at home I always freak whenever my dog starts barking out the window. A intruder has never come to my house when I was alone before, but I would probably scream and run.
peachadee: I would call the cops and then get a baseball bat.
rochrox: Well, I've never had an intruder. I feel pretty safe at home, so I don't worry about that.
Nateenka: How many times have you been left at home by yourself?
lyd1212: I have been left home alone almost every day. This is because my parents work late and are not able to do so. It has been this way forever. So I just have learned to relay on myself for dinner and stuff.
PhyscoGrl: Too many to count. I've been staying home alone since about the end of 5th grade.
peachadee: I practically live by myself. I'm an adult.
rochrox: Countless. I've been staying home alone for the past 5 years, and babysitting for the last 3 years. Almost every day I'm home by myself since I'm the first one home after school.
Thank you to the interviewee's. I apologize to anyone that I discouraged or made feel uncomfortable. This interview was quite fun for me, for I rarely stay at home by myself.
This is Nateenka, signing off. Bye!
