is it true Virginia does not have a legal minimum age child left home alone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:pretty sure the age is 12 but could be wrong. For what it is worth, I was left alone at 8. Nothing good ever came from that. But lots of bad did.

No the OP is right. There is no state law but each jurisdiction could have guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I started leaving DD home alone at that age, she also did not have a cell phone, and we've never had a landline. But we knew our neighbors well, and she knew that she could always knock on someone's door and ask to use their phone. She did that a couple of times, and no one, not even neighbors we've had conflicts with in the past, ever refused her or gave me a hard time about it. (Nothing bad happened. I was a few minutes late and she got worried.)

why not get a landline or get her a cell phone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I started leaving DD home alone at that age, she also did not have a cell phone, and we've never had a landline. But we knew our neighbors well, and she knew that she could always knock on someone's door and ask to use their phone. She did that a couple of times, and no one, not even neighbors we've had conflicts with in the past, ever refused her or gave me a hard time about it. (Nothing bad happened. I was a few minutes late and she got worried.)

why not get a landline or get her a cell phone?

She wasn't home alone very often (maybe twice a month) and never alone anywhere else, so neither cell phone nor landline seemed worth it at the time. Now that she is 10 and also walks places by herself, she has a cell phone.