How to Leave Your Tween Home Alone

Your child is a tween between the age of 9 and 13. Can you leave him hold alone? There are many things to be considered when determining if a child can be left home alone. There are also certain steps you must take.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. First, find out if it is legal to leave your tween child home alone. Every state and locality had different rules where this is concerned. For example, in Fairfax, Virginia, children under 7 can never be left alone. Children 8 to 10 can be left alone for 1 1/2 hours during daylight. Children 11 and 12 can be alone for 3 hours during the day. Children 13 through 15 can be unsupervised, but not overnight. Children 16 and 17 can be left alone for up to 2 days and nights. According to these guidelines, many of our parents would have been in big trouble! You can find out the guidelines in your area by searching for the following terms on the Internet: “child left alone,” “your locality,” and “gov”. Put all three terms in the search box.
2. Decide if your tween child is mature enough to be left home alone. Determine if they can follow a complex set of instructions without your help. If they cannot get an item out of the third box from the left on the second shelf in the garage, you cannot expect them to lock all of the doors, set the alarm, and remember to tell people who call that you are asleep. In addition, while no tween is perfect, behavioral problems are also a sign that your tween is not old enough to be left alone.
3. Start with short periods. If you know you will have to leave your tween alone for three hours a day begin leaving them alone for one hour at a time. Leave them alone while you shop for groceries, and take short trips to the mall. Even if you have no place to go, visit a neighbor for 20 or 30 minutes to see how your tween does on her own.
4. Test your tween to make sure they will follow basic safety rules. Leave them home alone, then come back and see if they will open the door for a “stranger”. See how they handle someone knocking on the back door. Call to see what they say to someone asking for their parents. A young tween should never open the door for anyone, as you will surely have the keys. They should never tell anyone on the phone that they are alone, and they should not call undue attention to the house with loud music and wild behavior. If your child passes tests to see if they can follow these rules, you can feel safe leaving them home alone.

Tips & Warnings

• Test your tween to make sure they follow the rules when you are not home.