Is it illegal for an 8 year old to stay home with a 12 year old everyday?

Question

My fathers neighbors have 2 kids an 8 year old girl and a 12 year old boy. Theese kids are free to do whatever they please during this time and one time they were even going to let there 7 year old stay home by her self. Last year the same kids invited his cousins over and was skateboarding on a ramp and fell and did some major damage to his teeth.

Answer 1

Depending on what state you/they live in, the laws for how old you have to be to stay home alone are different.  You should check into your state's laws if you think a law is being broken.  

Answer 2

you should call social services...in my area (NC) one child has to be at least 16 before they start staying home by themselves.

Answer 3

Yes in Illinois kids are not allowed to babysit till they are 14.

Answer 4

In most places, yes. A 12 year old can legally babysit family members. Personally, I think it depends on the maturity of the child. Some 12 year olds can handle it quite well where others aren't even close. It is helpful if the child has taken a Red Cross babysitter certification class -they can be certified at 11- but it doesn't sound like that's the case in your situation.  

Answer 5

well the actual age for a person/babysitter to stay by themselves is 14. Talk to your  father and ask him if he trusts/knows the kids are safe. If so, just don't worry about it; they're not your kids lol.

Answer 6

It may be illegal depending on what state you are in.  The dad apparently doesn't care.  Poor kids.

Answer 7

It strongly depends on the maturity of the child. My son is nine and he is home alone from 3:30 until 5:30. He has never failed to call as soon as he walks in the door and he is not permitted to so much as open a can of vienna sausages (his favorite snack) without calling me and opening them while on the phone with me. He comes home, does his homework and watches TV until I get home. The reason he has to stay home is because the after school program at his school is full and there are no affordable child care facilities that pick up from his school. They typically run around $75 a week just for after school care and since I'm a single mother- I can't  afford that. If I thought for a minute that my son wasn't safe he wouldn't be staying home. If anyone takes the time to think about it....I'm 30...and I know when I was in elementary school it was called being a "latchkey kid". The school typically started offering safety classes for them around 3rd grade.  

Answer 8

There is no legal age to stay home alone or babysit in FL.  It depends on the situation and the child.

Dumb if you ask me but thats how some of the states are.

Answer 9

AMV is incorrect.  I am from Illinois and called my local police department a few years ago asking at what age it was legal to leave my kids home alone.  They said there is no set age and is really up to the parents' discretion.  My oldest was 10 and my twins were 8 and the police told me that if I was okay with leaving them home and felt they were mature enough, it was perfectly legal.

Answer 10

There are only 3 states with laws about leaving children at home by themselves.  I'm in Ohio, and there are no laws about that.  I could legally leave my 7 and 2 year old home alone!  I would never do that though.

Answer 11

you know this is where we all should be good neighbors not everyone is blessed to have someone babysit our kids,at that age many kids are raising themselves because parents can't afford childcare,and must go to work so it's either be homeless or pay your whole pay check on childcare and still be homeless,or let the older child watch the younger child and train your children the best way you know can so danger can be avoided.Have a heart  look out for the kids make sure they eat have a talk with the parents if you observe them doing things that are inappropriate once they know someone is keeping an eye out they will behave.Everybody is so quick to judge or call Social services instead of stepping up and having a heart by helping out,you will be blessed for it,I had to stay home a long time for many hours and thank-God I am grown now and can stay home with my kids 12 and 5.Not sure where you live they also have state funding daycare where the state will pay for her childcare but once again she still has to find money to pay the other half.It's hard so lets not talk about her help her.God Bless.

Answer 12

SOME 12 YEAR OLD CHILDREN ARE MATURE ENOUGH TO BE LEFT HOME ALONE, BUT TO MAKE HIM/HER WATCH SOMEONE ELSE IS IRRESPONSIBLE FOR THE PARENTS.

Answer 13

Depends on your state.   A lot of states will legally allow a 12 yr old to 'babysit'.   The parents, however, need to set ground rules and demand they follow them.....if not, they are unfortunately on their own.