At what age would you leave kids alone while you holiday

Pollycat

74jax wrote: »

I moved out at 16 and was doing much worse....

Seconds thoughts maybe I'm not best to comment on this thread :rotfl:

But were you responsible for 2 younger siblings...?

badmemory

Which one of the 3 is going to get the blame when it all goes pear shaped. The eldest probably after all he is already "in trouble". What can he do to stop the other 2 doing something they shouldn't? Absolutely nothing. Been there done that got the t-shirt. If I'd have been an uninvolved adult I'd have got social services on my very very respectable parents.

Loz01

Or even worse the 16 year old and 15 year old will disappear with friends/ get drunk/invite people over and the poor 13 year old will be left to fend for themselves.

AylesburyDuck

If on previous occassions i'd had police cars outside my house speaking to my children then the answer is absolutely not would i even consider leaving them to themselves as i went off to have a jolly.
In fact not even if i hadnt. Wouldnt enter my head not to include my family if i was having a holiday, she doesnt sound very nice to me, and very inconsiderate of not only her children ( for leaving them unattended) but her neighbours (because they are unattended and could misbehave).
Poor kids and poor you!

ska_lover

I think it depends on the teens level of maturity as opposed to the age, In this case though the mother seems to think they are going to be partying so a week is too long IMO and the fact that there are three of them, they could easily be egging each other on lol

suejb2

Independently my 16 year old d.d and 13 yr old d.s are mature, sensible and dependable. Together I would fear for their lives!
That aside if they could manage not to injure the other it's the wider circle. Once it's out there in digital land that there is a "free" (house with no parents) who knows who will turn up?

FBaby

I don't think the age itself is so much of an issue. Some kids that age are extremely mature and responsible. What is worrying here is that the mum seem so blaze at the idea that they would have a party. It could be that it was said tongue in cheek, but if that's the case, not really a good idea to mention when asking for neighbours to keep an eye.

I think nowadays, with skype and the rest, it's a lot easier to consider leaving teenagers alone at home. I have left mine for three days when they were 17 and 14, but the 14yo was with family 2 out of the 3 at night. They are however very mature kids and I knew (say 99.999999%) that they wouldn't have had a party. They are not kids who think parties are fun, let alone hosting one. The worse I was concerned about was coming back with the floor covered in crumbs!

pollypenny

Maybe leaving them overnight would be fine, but a week's holiday - no! This is even more unsafe as the 16year old has had the police there previously.

Where is she going? If abroad she would be unlikely to be able to get back quickly. Sounds irresponsible to me.

clairec79

I have 17, 16 and 14 year olds - I wouldn't leave them for a week

I probably would overnight, maybe longer if I COULD get back to them easily (The 17 and 16 year olds I definately would be happy leaving them overnight - not while I went abroad though - so as I decided about an hour ago to go for 2 nights to amsterdam and text them saying they were coming too

There'd be no food left in the house for a start

PasturesNew

25. Biologically, the human body and brain aren't fully developed until about 24.

By 25 all your feral mates are either in prison, or shacked up with people and illegitimate children, so "otherwise occupied".

So 25's probably the earliest I'd let them loose with my entire worldly possessions and home! And then I'd think about it twice....

Also, not if they were unemployed. Only if they had a full-time "proper job" they went to....