When Can You Leave Your Child Alone?
When Can You Leave Your Child Alone?
Helpful Tips for Parents
Police officers are often asked this question by parents. Before going into questions you should think about, here are some things that you might not know:
-
Nearly 4.5 million children ages 14 and under are injured in the home every year.
-
The vast majority of unintentional injury-related deaths among children occurs in the evening hours when children are most likely to be out of school and unsupervised.
-
Children are most likely to be victims of violent crimes by non-family members between the hours of 2:00pm and 6:00pm.
-
Violent juvenile crimes triple between the hours of 3:00pm and 8:00pm.
When thinking about whether or not it is safe to leave your child at home alone, remember the following questions:
1. Can your child handle fear or loneliness?
2. Is there a responsible adult nearby--a relative or neighbor--who your child can call for assistance?
3. Does your child know emergency procedures? Have you reviewed fire escape routes? Is there a first aid kit available, and does your child know how to use it?
4. Does your child perform everyday tasks such as fixing a snack, dialing the phone, and writing messages?
5. Does your child regularly solve small problems without assistance, knowing when it's okay to ask for help?
6. Are there siblings who will also be home? Does your child manage conflicts with/among siblings without adult help?
7. Is your child comfortable with the idea of staying home alone?
If you--and your child--are confident that the time is right, try leaving your child for short periods of time to test the results. First, make sure that these elements are in place:
1. There should be a basic agreement (a contract of sorts) between you and your child about what is expected when you are away, with clear rules as to what is off limits.
2. Make a thorough check of your home for safety risks--access to kitchen appliances (especially gas), alcoholic beverages, and firearms. Remove these risks.
3. Make certain your child has every key necessary to get into the house with a plan for what to do if the keys are lost.
4. All necessary information should be kept by every phone--your home address, emergency numbers, your contact information, and a neighbor's phone number.
5. If possible, leave a cell phone number to reach you immediately.
Also, you should go over the following types of situations with your child before deeming them safe to be at home alone:
1. You're home alone and a stranger calls to speak to Mom or Dad. What do you say?
2. A friend calls and asks to you come to her house, since her parents aren't home either. What should you do?
3. Your younger brother is holding a can of some cleaning product. You aren't sure if he swallowed some. What do you do?
4. You are playing in the front yard and a stranger drives by slowly and tries to talk to you. What do you do?
5. A friend comes over (because you already asked permission) and tells you there is something "really cool" to show you. When you see that the "cool thing" is some type of weapon, what do you do?
6. You smell smoke, or the smoke alarm sounds. What should you do?
Remember that there is NO right answer for every child. There is NO magic age when a child suddenly becomes responsible and mature. However, there are ways to evaluate your child's capabilities in order to make a more informed decision.
For more information, please contact D.A.R.E. Officer James Ghrist at 836-6639 or jghrist@munster.org.
Information obtained from the publication, "When is it okay for your child to be alone?" produced by Prevent Child Abuse Indiana (www.pcain.org).
Copyright © 2024