When is a child old enough to be left home alone?

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s a question every parent faces: Is your child old enough to be left at home alone?

A judge in BC Provincial Court has ruled — once again — an eight year-old from Terrace is too young to be at home alone after school.

Sasha Emmons, editor-in-chief of Today’s Parent, says there are several questions moms and dads should be asking themselves.

“First of all, does your child feel comfortable? Some kids are totally into the idea of it, some kids are still freaked out a bit. If they are scared, then that’s a clear sign that they are not quite ready. You can also ask yourself, ‘Does your child remember and take directions well? Are they pretty responsible when you ask them to do something? Do they usually do it and pretty quickly?’ The third thing is, when your child has found themselves in unexpected situations, were they able to keep their cool?”

If you do decide to let your child be home on their own, Emmons says it’s important to have a discussion about how to handle opening the door, what to do in an emergency, and whether he or she is allowed to have friends over.

“You should start with shorter periods of time — two hours or less. You might even try a quick trip to the grocery store to start — where it’s only a half an hour or so — just to see how it goes. And kids should not be left with their younger siblings to supervise to start; that’s a little bit too much to start. Just start with your child home alone first.

“I think really, the biggest thing is just setting limits on screen time. I think that’s a lot of the fear that parents have when they leave their kids home alone, is what are they going to get up to online, even more than worrying about some kind of dangerous situation in the home. So, just make sure that you’re really on the same page with that, and have very clear, agreed upon limits.”

She advises you ensure sure you are reachable by phone, and check in frequently.

Emmons points out there is no law across Canada about when children can stay home alone, adding the Canada Safety Council recommends a child being at least 10.

But she says it really depends on the child.

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