babysitting

[phoenix67]

Hi. I have a son who will be 13 in May, a daughter who is 10 and a baby who will be 2 in April and would like to know how old a child has to be before they are allowed to look after their younger brother and sister. I play netball 5 minutes from my house for an hour on a Wednesday evening and want to leave my son in charge. How does the law stand on this one?? Also how old can a child be before you legally can leave them on their own and for how long??

[lou 26]

I was sent a parenting handbook and in there it states the following:-

The NSPCC have issued guidleines advising that children under the age of 13 should not be left alone. While this recommendation does not have the force of 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

[tradey]

i think they should be at least 15 before they start to babysit,13 is still too young there still babies

[phoenix67]

Thank you for both your answers. They do help.

[noxlumos]

I'd disagree with tradey heavily feeling exactly the opposite actually.I think most kids over the age of 10 are quite capable of being left alone for a couple of hours and certainly a 13 year old should be mature enough to babysit. It does depend on the child though and what your parenting technique has been with them, but I've never felt uncomfortable leaving my children at those ages.

[silly moo]

The following is from the Thames Valley Police website Q & A pages.

Q: Is there a minimum age for a babysitter to look after a child, and at what age can children be legally left 'home alone'?
A: There is no specific minimum age for babysitters (although 14 is often quoted). Parents or carers must adopt a common sense policy, with the babysitter being able to look after both him/herself and the child.

Similarly, there are no legal guidelines regarding the age at which a child can be left at home alone. The rule of thumb is that the child should be able to look after him/herself. Again, common sense should be applied.

Having said that, under the Children and Young Person Act 1933 it is an offence for anyone over the age of 16, who has responsibility for a child under that age to wilfully assault, ill-treat, neglect, abandon the child or to expose them to the risk of being burnt or scalded by an open fire or any heating appliance liable to cause injury to a person by contact.

[tradey]

well thats up to you noxlumos isnt it,the question was about baby sitting not about leaving them for a few hours ie 1-2 i hours,yep it depends on how mature they are but to be 13 and left to babysit i still think its too young

[noxlumos]

Tradey the lady who asked the question said " I play netball 5 minutes from my house for an hour on a Wednesday evening and want to leave my 13 year old son in charge".

That was the question I answered, using my own experience to demonstrate that I've often left my 13 year olds to babysit for a short period as they are certainly mature enough and most of my kids from the age of 10 have been perfectly capable of keeping themselevs in order for a short time without me having to worry.

I fail to see what is wrong with either of those statements and I don't feel that anyone should have to defend their parenting, you to me or me to you. We clearly bring our children up very differently to one another but that doesn't make either one of us solely right does it?

[ward71]

Hi, I was just looking for the same info myself regarding leaving my son unattended for short periods and what the law states. I was reading some answers posted by others and yes I agree that it is up to each parent and how mature the child is individually. But I am sure like most you allow your children OUT to PLAY - at these times they are unattended and I would say in much more danger. It's a shame that we now have to worry this way, I was 4 and able to play and walk to school, yes I had an older brother who was 7 but still alot younger than the ages mentioned here. What a sad world we live in now, that children can't grow up with the freedom that we had and why? because we all get to see the media now and know about things - knowledge isn't everything and all the things we see and hear today we had back then too!!!!