Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't remember, probably first or second grade? But really depends on the kid. One of ours was scared to be home alone.

Um...WHAT? Are you trolling? It's not funny.

I know it’s illegal now but my brother and I were latchkey kids at 7 and 8 in the 90’s. We lived in a really safe neighborhood and well behaved. We did homework, then played inside, and even ate a specific snack our mom designated for us.

3rd grade - 8yo.

I wouldn't even blink at 11. Loosen the leash.

Ours started at 10 years old. He has a watch to contact us if needed.

This is why picking the right neighborhood is important. Houses too big/spread apart/not walkable or bike friendly aren’t good for kids who should be honing their independence skills. Too urban and there are other issues. The sweet spot is sidewalks and houses close enough together that neighbors and friends are never too far away.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Age 8 I would be ok with now and again.
Every day though , maybe 10.
My 12yo has a friend we dropped off at home ( alone) last week after an outing and she couldn’t get in the house. The code on the door was jammed or something. I ended up keeping her 2 extra hours.
Make sure your kid knows what to do if where to go if they can’t get in for some reason.

Really? Was it extra hot or is this a bad neighborhood? When our child got locked out at a younger age they just waited in a quiet spot.

Are you seriously saying that some ahole adult dropped your child off without making sure she could get into the house? Or worse, knew she couldn’t get in the house and left the child there anyway? What kind of uncivilized people do you associate with?

At 12 no way. They just drop and go. Kid was taking the public bus and metro by herself by then. Even at 10 parents would drop off without making sure a child could get in their own house. I guess it's just a different type of neighborhood or maybe it's these particular kids. They know that if they need anything they can just go find a neighbor or walk across the street to a friend's. The houses aren't super close together but they are not these huge houses either so it's not like they were being dropped off in a place without civilization.

Reminds me of a post on our neighborhood FB page. Someone posted looking for a sitter for her 12 year old - just someone to hang out at the house and make sure kid didn’t get into trouble while parents were at a wedding until midnight, I think it said. Someone tagged someone and was like “XYZs daughter babysits” and XYZ responded to say “true but Larla and Larlo are classmates so not sure how he would feel about her babysitting him” 😂