Would you leave a nine year old home alone?

Dunroamin

Yes, from choice

poet123 wrote: »

I think the point was that if there was an emergency that was serious enough that the nine year old needed to be left alone then most workplaces would be sympathetic so long as it wasn't a regular occurrence.

The difference is that this is a second hand emergency as you wouldn't be involved in the actual emergency itself but would be expecting to be allowed to drop everything just so a 9 year old isn't left alone. I doubt that many employers would be happy to allow that.

Dunroamin

Yes, from choice

pigpen wrote: »

yes, but if there was an emergency they would come. I know they would because they have. My mother came when my daughter knocked herself out at school and couldn't walk home, she came when the same daughter fell and smashed her face on the ground and we needed to go to the eye hospital. She came when my son was dx with diabetes 11 days after my daughter was born. My dad and grandmother had children overnight when I had DS3 at 30 weeks in a hospital 60 miles away.

Family first.. work second. You can find another job, you can't find another family.

But, as I've been arguing with Poet, a 9 year old being left alone isn't an emergency.

Re the last point, I'm glad that the surgeon who operated on my husband last week didn't take your point of view - or the man who delivers his oxygen!

poet123

No, not unless it was a dire emergency

Dunroamin wrote: »

The difference is that this is a second hand emergency as you wouldn't be involved in the actual emergency itself but would be expecting to be allowed to drop everything just so a 9 year old isn't left alone. I doubt that many employers would be happy to allow that.

I think the poll shows that the majority of people would consider it necessary to ensure a child of nine was not left alone, and if that meant asking a family member to leave work (if there really was no alternative) then I think most employers would accept it. I know mine would.

daisy0210

No, not unless it was a dire emergency

A nine year old should not be left by themselves. They would not be mature enough to cope with an emergency.

pulliptears

daisy0210 wrote: »

A nine year old should not be left by themselves. They would not be mature enough to cope with an emergency.

Which 9 year old would that be then that isn't mature enough? Or are you naive enough to think that every single one of them is an identikit of each other?

Your 9 year old might not be mature but that doesn't follow that other 9 year olds aren't now does it?

Person_one

No, not unless it was a dire emergency

pulliptears wrote: »

Which 9 year old would that be then that isn't mature enough? Or are you naive enough to think that every single one of them is an identikit of each other?

Your 9 year old might not be mature but that doesn't follow that other 9 year olds aren't now does it?

Even if they are mature enough to physically cope, 9 is too young to expect them to, in my opinion. I wouldn't want a 9 year old to be in the position of having to deal with a fire, or a burglar or a sick pet, or a persistent cold caller, or the burglar alarm going off randomly or tripping over the carpet/falling down the stairs and hurting themselves.

In my opinion (and I don't have children, so those of you who think that renders my opinion invalid feel free to ignore it) 9 is too young to put somebody in that potential position on their own. Its not about where the highest level of risk is, the car with a parent or the house alone, its about letting a primary school age child handle things completely alone. I wouldn't want to put that on their shoulders, even if they know to perform CPR, reset the alarm, clean and dress a wound and quote anti-harassment legislation through the letterbox.

Waiting until they start secondary school is not going to turn them into dependent neurotic wet blankets.

Spendless

Yes, from choice

The only way a burglar could get into our house if they weren't prepared to break into double glazed windows and a UPVC door in view of everyone walking up and down the road, is to walk to several houses down, go round their side with their ladder and a swag bag, climb over each neighbour's fence or hedge in turn, some of which have trellis, some of which are 6ft tall, 3 ft wide hedges dragging their ladder with them and hope they are not disturbed by each of the neighbours whose gardens they are trespassing thru or any of their dogs in order to especially target my house.

I have a smoke alarm and children instructed to get out of the house in the event you hear it, which could happen when we are asleep. They are capable of walking out of a back door into the garden.

We didn't own any pets. Well we might have had a goldfish. There's little you can do for them if they fall ill during a 30 min duration. The chance of you even noticing within

We have a downstairs loo and you can only watch tv downstairs, so the attraction of going upstairs is limited. I have wall-to-wall fitted carpets. Don't most people nowadays?? Unsure how you can trip over them.

Today I left the same son now aged 13 home alone whilst I took my youngest and her mate swimming. Son asked to use the grill just before I came out. We have a new cooker, less than a week old which operates differently to our old one. He asked me how to use it, I explained and then said 'and you know how to turn it off?' He said 'yes, I turn it to 0' and I mentioned one of the buttons didn't have a 0 to which he replied 'I still know how to switch it off, demonstrating and now Mum will you please explain why you are treating me as though I am thick?'. And yes, I could see his point.

moomoomama27

No, not unless it was a dire emergency

pulliptears wrote: »

Which 9 year old would that be then that isn't mature enough? Or are you naive enough to think that every single one of them is an identikit of each other?

Your 9 year old might not be mature but that doesn't follow that other 9 year olds aren't now does it?

My now 10 year old is very sensible, has been very responsible and calm since aged 8! I trust her completley, know she wouldn't be silly, and know she knows what to do in an emergency, as we've taught her. BUT I'd never ever leave her alone at 9/10!!

moomoomama27

No, not unless it was a dire emergency

Person_one wrote: »

Even if they are mature enough to physically cope, 9 is too young to expect them to, in my opinion. I wouldn't want a 9 year old to be in the position of having to deal with a fire, or a burglar or a sick pet, or a persistent cold caller, or the burglar alarm going off randomly or tripping over the carpet/falling down the stairs and hurting themselves.

In my opinion (and I don't have children, so those of you who think that renders my opinion invalid feel free to ignore it) 9 is too young to put somebody in that potential position on their own. Its not about where the highest level of risk is, the car with a parent or the house alone, its about letting a primary school age child handle things completely alone. I wouldn't want to put that on their shoulders, even if they know to perform CPR, reset the alarm, clean and dress a wound and quote anti-harassment legislation through the letterbox.

Waiting until they start secondary school is not going to turn them into dependent neurotic wet blankets.

Totally agree! I feel as a parent that we are there to guide them, show them how to deal with things, but not dump them in scenarios from a very early age.

I didn't start leaving my eldest until she was 12, almost 13, and then never for more than an hour! She's not neurotic, knows how to deal with emergencies, and is ready for the big wide world, without having had to deal with being left etc from a young age.

neverdespairgirl

Yes, because of necessity only

My son's younger than 9, he's 7. I've left him alone in our flat for approx 3 minutes, if I go across the road to the newsagents. I've also left him in my parents' house alone, while I've been still on their property, but not in the house - getting logs from the barn, or vegetables from the garden.

He's 7, not a baby. If he wasn't happy about it, I wouldn't leave him, though.