{"id":544,"date":"2007-02-21T15:39:31","date_gmt":"2007-02-21T19:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/shlep\/2007\/02\/21\/when-can-you-leave-children-at-home-alo"},"modified":"2007-02-28T22:43:49","modified_gmt":"2007-03-01T02:43:49","slug":"when-can-you-leave-children-at-home-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/shlep\/2007\/02\/21\/when-can-you-leave-children-at-home-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"when can you leave children at home alone?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As often happens, law librarian Laura Orr covered an interesting and important\u00a0topic last week at her Oregon Legal Research<\/em> weblog: in her posting “Babysitting and the Law<\/a>,” she addresses the question, “what age a child must be before he or she can be left home alone,” as well as at what age a child may be a babysitter.\u00a0 Laura came to a conclusion that seems to be the consensus viewpoint: “[T]here may not be a definitive age for babysitting or for being left alone, but more a matter of training, maturity, and other factors.”\u00a0\u00a0 Laura’s posting\u00a0offers links to Oregon materials on the topic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"HomeAloneMovie\"\u00a0 At ExpertLaw<\/em>, Aaron Larson says<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“You can check with your state’s Department of Social Services to see if your state has a minimum age for leaving children unsupervised. You are likely to find that there is no specific age, although the common recommendation is that children under twelve be provided with appropriate supervision while their parents are away from home. There may also be a suggestion that an older sibling, even if old enough to be left at home alone, is not necessarily an appropriate babysitter for younger siblings.”\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0There are many good online sources with guidance for parents wondering whether their children are ready to stay home alone and how to make the experience as safe as possible for the children.\u00a0 For example, see The Public School Parent Network<\/a>‘s latchkey webpage; Children at Home Alone<\/a>, a two-page brochure from Prevent Child Abuse New York; and the NSPCC’s Leaving Children at Home Alone<\/a>.\u00a0 [Of course, Macaulay Culkin’s experiences in the 1990 movie Home Alone<\/a><\/em> were very funny but not very edifying for parents.]<\/p>\n

\"podium\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The most comprehensive and up-to-date resource\u00a0appears\u00a0to be the Children Home Alone and Babysitter Age Guidelines<\/a> from the National Child Care Information Center.\u00a0 For example, it notes that Illinois and Maryland<\/a> now have statutes directly addressing\u00a0the Home Alone\u00a0issue, summarizes their laws, and links to more information.\u00a0 After saying that States may have guidelines or recommendations about when a child is considered old enough to care for him\/herself or to care for other children, the NCCIC advises\u00a0that “these guidelines are most often distributed through child protective services and are administered at the county level.”\u00a0 It then helpfully adds:\u00a0“Contact Child Welfare Information Gateway at 800-394-3366, and staff there will refer you to your local child protective services agency to learn about age guidelines in your area.”<\/p>\n

On\u00a0the NCCIC Guidelines<\/a> page, you will also find:<\/p>\n