when is it safe to leave my kids

[jem101267]

my eldest daughter is twelve but very reponsible she helps out at my younger daughters dance class on a saturday morning all aged 4+ she is now @ high school and has started to walk home with friends and gets in 10 mins before me and my younger daughter also i sometimes nip to the shop @ the top of the road leavng my older daughter in charge when would it be save for maybe me and my husband to go for a bar snack @ the local pub nearby any suggestions

[maggie01]

I wouldn't think it wise to leave a 12 yr old in charge of a younger one. I thought the age was 13yrs before you could leave them alone but I am not sure.

[jake-the-peg]

In the UK three is no actual legal age. I'm assuming you're in the UK because you're talking about the local pub (but you also mentioned high school).

If that's the case you might find this usefull

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/html/home/needadvice/childrenathomealone.htm

My son's nearly 13 and my daughter 11 and we routinely leave them for an hour or two to do shopping etc.

Personally I'd not leave them for too long in the evening because my son gets emotional when he gets tired which can affect his judgement but that's a specific reason

[Drusilla]

I have 6 and 9 year old daughters and ensure their babysitters are fifteen and above. As Jake says, younger children get tired earlier and their sense of responsibility can diminish rapidly in the course of an evening, through no fault of their own. It's nice to hear of a child getting praise for being responsible, though. Bless her!

[lou 26]

i was recently sent a safe parenting handbook and in there it states

"The NSPCC have issued guidelines advising that children under 13 should not be left alone. While this recommendation does not have the force of the law it is suggested as good practice. Children under this age do not have the maturity to manage the responsibility of being left alone."

Hope this helps.

[lady_p_gold]

The only thing that would worry me about it is that if she was left in charge of the younger one and something ever did go wrong then she would blame herself. Its always a difficult balancing act with these things and only you can make the decision. With mobile phones you are only a call away so that makes life easier than it used to be!

[funnywebsite]

12 year olds are very mature nowadays and would be fine to be left for a couple of hours. I was a latch key kid and although it was day time my mum went to work I was fine. I had to do the shopping and help out at home. You just seem to get problems when you are down the pub and children are roaming the streets because nobody is around to supervise them. Make sure you have a mobile phone with you and your daughter can get hold of you.