| christine1 |
| (addict) |
| 05/04/08 08:17 AM |
Re: Step mother leaves kids home alone. . .
|
In Massachusetts the age is 13.
Where a parent leaves younger children home alone, the police or child protective services agencies are likely to respond to a tip, and verify that the children have appropriate adult supervision and aren't in any danger. With preteens and teens, the most likely reason for protective services or the police to learn that a child is home alone is an accident or other tragedy. The parent may then have to establish in retrospect why the children were left alone. It is best for parents to make these decisions with caution, to make sure that their children have appropriate maturity to be left alone, and to make sure that they are instructed on how to handle emergencies and have emergency contacts to assist them in case something goes wrong.
It may appear to some that the state should take a firmer stand on leaving children home alone. That it should set minimum ages and presumptions, with the goal of maximizing child safety. However, the effects of any such rules would fall disproportionately on working families, who may have their children spend a period of time alone before or after school, or on poor families who cannot afford child care. It would consume the limited resources of protective services agencies, pursuing cases involving children who really are sufficiently mature to look after themselves for limited periods of time, distracting them from focusing on cases of bona fide child neglect. Also, there's a question of how much government interference our society wishes to tolerate in parenting decisions.