NY: Is 10 too young to leave a child home alone for 1-2 hrs?

Question

My son was able to summon 911 during a family emergency. I have no weapons in my home and he would have a phone to call me at work or on my cell in an emergency. We are only talking about 1-2 hrs until I get home from work. He does not like the sitter and complained to me and the school that she puts him down. She is also not very honest and am concerned he would learn inappropriate things from her. Everybody else charges too much and he will be attending a Red Cross Training class to stay home alone designed for kids 7-11. Is 10 too young to stay home alone for a few hours under these circumstances?

Answer 1

its perfectly fine explain to him emergencies just in case.

make sure it is okay with him becuae he may not want to

be home alone just .

it is perfectly okay!

Answer 2

I don't think it's too young, as long as you feel like you can trust him to be responsible.  If he is a well behaved and mature 10 year old then I wouldn't worry about it.  Also, you may want to get to know a neighbor that he could contact in an emergency and make sure he isn't planning on having friends over.  By the way, my brother and I were coming home to an empty house in 2nd grade and we managed just fine.  Of course that was a long time ago....

Answer 3

Dear Cat:

When I was 10, I cooked dinner for 8 people every night, and started as soon as I got home from school.  It was something I wanted to do, and wasn't forced to do. But that was the 60's.  

Now, some states have laws against kids younger than 12 being home alone. Your son sounds like he is responsible enough, but he is still vulnerable at that age.  Granted, a sitter who is not trustworthy and irritating is worse than him being home alone.  My concern would be outside influences -- people who know he's alone at home, busy-body neighbors or other kids who want to make trouble.  A Red Cross class is great, and will give him skills that he will use forever.  

Is there an after school program he can participate in (at the YMCA or Boys & Girls Club) that would take up these hours when you're not home yet?  Maybe a library program? If you're a single mom, you might be eligible for scholarships or subsidy with the cost for some of these.  

Are there other single moms who work varied schedules that might be able to do a co-op with you and trade off days with this age group? Employers are sometimes willing to adjust a work schedule with this kind of arrangement too.  

Good luck.  

Answer 4

NO its not ok ..its illegal . Only at 12yrs can a child be left alone in NYS. What if he needed stitches or had a fire or some stalker came to the door...Its neglect

Answer 5

nah im alone all the time, of course im older but just make sure she locks the doors, windows, dont pick up the ohone if it rings blah blah blah. all the basics. and if it's at night tell him not to go outside lol.

Answer 6

really depends on your child's maturity.   Personally, by ten years old, I got up, made my own breakfast and got to the bus a half hour before my parents woke up, I had built a truck and motorbike and taught myself to drive them, and I worked cutting and delivering firewood and snow plowing driveways, I stayed with my neighbors three younger kids after school and made them dinner, got them to bed, and would stumble home when their single bartender mom got home at 1am.

hah, I only saw my parents on the weekend.   The good old days..

Patrick

Answer 7

nah my cousin is 10 and she's stayed home alone before. he should be fine as long as he's well behaved and listens to the rules you make for him.

Answer 8

by some state laws he shouldn't

but it really depends on how responsible your kid is.......  but  a lot of dangerous things can happen so on the safe side you shouldn't but if you really think he's fine then you can i guess

Answer 9

no, but he can  not you this thing when he is by himself i could be a hazard . oven . and tell him not to open the door to anybody . make sure he only picks up the phone when family and friends call that's it.  he should be fine if he follows these instructions.also lock your doors and turn your alarm system on if you have on.

Answer 10

If you feel that he is responsible then allow him to stay home alone.  Is there a trusted neighbor that he could go to in case he was having problems or in case he felt uncomfortable being home alone?  

I would give it a try as long as there was someone nearby he could contact in case you couldn't get home in time.

Answer 11

nope, when i was 8 my mom/dad would leave us alone for abaut 16 hours for work. just make sure they are bussie all day long

Answer 12

As long as the doors are locked and he has a phone, I think he's good. Do you live in a good or bad part in NY.

Answer 13

Absolutely too young.

Does he know what to do if there is a fire? A burglery? If a stranger comes to the door? If he is choking?

Kids do not always make good decisions in these circumstances because they don't have the experience or background to deal with them.

10 years old is too young to stay home alone. Call the school and find out if they have an aftercare program or call a family friend or family member to watch him or to get recommendations for a new sitter.

Answer 14

yes and no, just to be sure leave him at the neighbors in case he gets hungry they can provide food and entertain him...

hope i helped you out today

Answer 15

depends on his maturity level, some kids can handle it others can't...

Answer 16

That depends on your child. Do you think that he is responsible enough to stay home alone? You have to remember that a lot can happen in 1 or 2 hours. Even in a few minutes. I suggest maybe having a family member or close friend watch him for that amount of time. Or you can do a trial period where you can go out of the house for about half an hour and be in your car or down the street, somewhere short distanced. If you can see that your child is responsible enough to stay home by himself, I think you should let him. But there is the downside, what would happen if someone broke in to the house and he couldn't get to the phone? Or if he was injured and couldn't call anyone? You have to think about what could happen, and not what you want to happen.

Answer 17

NO! I'm gonna be thirteen soon and my parents used to leave me home alone AND made me go to the grocery store 3 streets away when I was 6... I was quite independent though  'cause i have 4 year younger twin sisters! :-p

Answer 18

Yes. A 10 year old can get into alot of things in 15 minutes

Answer 19

No, that's not too young. I started staying home alone for 1 - 1 1/2 hour when I was 9. I did just fine.

Answer 20

Is the 10 year old mature?

Do you have a nearby neighbor that you trust?

If so, then he's fine, especially after taking the class.

Just make sure he knows what he can and can't do. Like, no fooling with the stove, no answering the door, no going outside, etc.

Do you have caller ID?

If you don't, I highly recommend it. If someone calls that he doesn't know when your not home, it could turn out badly.

Get caller ID, and tell him not to answer the phone if he doesn't recognize the name or number.