Leaving Your Kids Home Alone

It is a natural progression for children to eventually be left home alone. This can be difficult when to decide when that should happen and many factors such as age, maturity, and track record come into play. Generally this begins with school aged kids coming home before parents get back from work. Careful planning and consideration should be taken by parents when planning to leave kids home alone. Here are some questions to consider. Can your child follow rules even when you are not around? Are they responsible? Can they deal with emergencies? Will they need to take care of pets or younger siblings?


When you do take that step make your home a safe place for them to be. Is there anything in your home that would be harmful to them, such as guns, medicines, or alcohol? These things need to be safely locked up in a cabinet or safe.


Instruct them on what they need to know. Kids may not know how to deal with basic everyday situations such as answering the phone, what to say to strangers at the door, or who to call in case of an emergency. Establish and maintain ground rules. Rules will naturally change as kids grow up and become responsible. A basic safety rule children should know is to not let people they will be home alone.


Keep an eye on them. If they are at home alone for a few hours while you are at work you can keep an eye on them with in home security cameras. Setting up a network is relatively simple and inexpensive with technology currently available. Wireless security cameras can be placed easily in any area of your home. Most security camera packages support multi-channel video recording and internet access to feeds. Are there areas they should not be, such as your room? Setting up hidden cameras can help you establish trust with them. This way you will know if they are lying to you and whether or not to grant them more privileges. Other articles discuss how to select the right kind of wireless security cameras and how to set them up.


It may be easier on child and parent alike starting with small periods of time first and progressively lengthen the time as appropriate. With proper planning parents can feel confident their kids will be safe home alone while enjoying a night out without worry.


About the Author: Mike Ward is the owner and operator of Protection Depot, a leading online provider of wireless security cameras and hidden cameras. For more information about security cameras, please visit www.security-cams.com.