When Are Children Old Enough To...

We all know that with children there are set ages for certain things (i.e. driving at 16, an adult at 17 or 18, drinking age 21et cetera). What about the certain things that do not have set ages? When can a child stay by himself, when can they babysit their younger siblings or other children, when are they old enough to date, when are they old enough to go places on their own? These are just a few questions parents have about what is the correct age to let a child do something. Of course, when to leave a child alone is up to the parents entirely. However, raising a child of my own, I have had many many questions. I just wanted to pass the answers on to you.

First let us talk about letting a child stay at their house alone. In the state of Tennessee there is no real law as to what age a child can be left without adult supervision, but you do not want to leave a two year old alone. This really is up to the parents. However, here are a few things to consider. Can the child call 911 and other emergency phone numbers if necessary? Do they know how to fix their own drinks and snacks (without using appliances of course)? Do they know to keep all doors locked and never answer the door to someone they do not know? Do they know what to do in the event of a fire? Around the age of eight most parents can begin leaving the child alone for a few hours at a time (never all day). However, do not leave an eight year old in charge of younger siblings. At age 12 it is usually alright to start leaving the child alone most of the day without younger siblings, age 13 or 14 with younger siblings.

When is a child old enough to babysit younger siblings or other children? This is a tough one really. The first thing you should consider is how responsible is the child who is to babysit. Can they take care of themselves and are responsible enough to take care of someone else? Most of the time parents do not want anyone under the age of 15 to babysit their children. Most parents want even older babysitters if there is a child under the age of one year old. However, there have been some parents let children babysit when they are 13 years of age. Again, it depends on how responsible the child is. It really is best, of course, to let the child start out by babysitting younger siblings before taking on other children.

Oh the joys of being a parent at dating age. Where do we begin? Now if I had my way about it, my son would not date until he is around 50 years old. Since that cannot happen I guess I will have to decide when he is old enough to break his mother's heart. Some parents think that by age 15 a child is ready to date as long as it is a daytime date. Going out on a nighttime date really should not happen until around the age of 17. A lot of people may disagree and say it is alright to let them start dating when younger. That is fine; but just make sure they are old enough to know how to handle themselves in any situation. The majority of the time a 15 year old is not really mature enough to be able to handle some things that can arise on a date.

When is a child old enough to go places on their own? In other words, when are they old enough to run around a mall without Mom or Dad holding their hand? To be honest, a child really is not responsible enough to be on their own in a mall or other place until they are around 13 years of age. A child must be old enough to know not to trust strangers for any reasons, what to do in the event of an emergency, be able to know when it is time to meet you (and be responsible enough to be there), and be able to know to behave and not cause trouble. Usually if a child is able to stay alone at home for several hours, they are old enough to be going out on their own.

In conclusion, parents must raise their children as they see fit. Parents must decide when the child is old enough to do certain things on their own. But I hope these few tips will help make it easier to decide.

Source:

Raising a child and step-grandchildren