Responsibility

[Tonisha11]

When should kids be allowed to stop going to the babysitters after school?

[hammy12]

Age has nothing to do with it. It should be when a parent feels that they can trust their child to be home alone, and not have their house burned down because of thier immature brat that should be at a sitters.

[CHANEYLAKEGIRL]

I would agree that it has to do with the maturity and responsibilty of the child. That said, my oldest could stay home alone at 11 and I trusted her. Some days I think the younger one, who is now 18, could still use one!

[home_teachin]

I would agree that it has to do with the maturity and responsibilty of the child. That said, my oldest could stay home alone at 11 and I trusted her. Some days I think the younger one, who is now 18, could still use one!

I agree. By 12 I trusted my son (not overnight though) to stay alone. Once he gets further in his teens that might change, depending on how he behaves.

[ULuvCeCe]

Colorado uses 12 years of age as a guideline for when parents can leave their child alone for short periods of time. Ultimately we are responsible for providing adequate supervision until age 18 and situation depending could be charged with neglect. So it's really up to the parent to ask themselves about the child's maturity level, is the situation appropriate etc.

[Tonisha11]

I agree with you all, ultimately the parent is responsible for whatever the child does while at home alone so it will be in their best interest to trust that their child would behave. I personally have been a latch key kid since my later elementary school years. I was given the instructions to not allow anyone else inside of the house and to use nothing but the microwave if I wanted to cook something to eat. I respected and obeyed my mom so this worked.

[loulizlee]

I agree with the general thread of this topic.  Kids are individuals and mature at different ages.  You must know your child well to discern when they are at the stage to accept responsibility.

[sommap]

I also agree with everybody that it depends on the individual child.