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How Old to Babysit? CN Mom Arrested for Leaving 13 Yr Old WIth Siblings
This is a topic I've talked over with friends and my husband at length. How old is OK to babysit? From what I understand there's no law in place (at least not one I can find) I don't remember exactly what age I started babysitting but I want to say it was around 13. There was one family across the street I babysat for that had 4 or 5 kids that I was babysitting around that age and I remember 2 were in diapers. I've been very tempted to have my oldest who is 13 (will be 14 in July) babysit his brothers who are 10, 9, 7 and 5 but so far I haven't done it. It would be nice to run to the store though to pick up a couple things and not bring the whole brood. My situation is a little different than most though as 1) I live 20 minutes from town so I'd spend 40 min just in the round trip plus time in the store and 2) my 7 year old has elipepsy, although he has only had staring seizures in recent years, his last grand mal was 4 years ago. But my mind always runs to what if he had a big seizure? What if someone tried to break in? What if there was a fire? What if (insert any other disaster here) Not to mention a group of kids may get into more trouble than say watching just one - like play with matches (my brother did that when my sister was babysitting, thank God no fire ensued) Young and stupid is a scary thought. On the other hand, I do feel I'm too overprotective and how will my kids ever grow into responsible young adults if they never have opportunities to be responsible? My oldest is going into high school in the fall for goodness sakes, he's not a little kid anymore. I've considered having him take a babysitter course and CPR/first aid to ease my mind with the whole epilepsy angle. So as my rambling is testiment, I've thought and agonized on this topic a lot...
Then today, I'm goofing off online and I come across a story from last month where a woman left her 13 yr old to babysit her siblings who are 10, 4 and 1 1/2. According to her she had a babysitter coming, scheduled to be there about a half hour after she left. But really, IMO that's irrelevant. Is 13 old enough to babysit? In this case, the 4 yr old went across the street into a neighbor's yard and the neighbor called police. The mother was arrested leaving her children alone and charged with risk of injury to a minor. I haven't been able to find much information like how busy of a road the child crossed, and I am curious about that.
Police Blotter - Mom Arrested After Leaving 13 Year Old in Charge
Was the mom wrong for leaving her 13 yr old in charge? Was 3 siblings too many for the 13 yr old to watch - were they too young? Should the neighbor just walked the 4 yr old home instead of calling police? I'm curious to what others think about this matter...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by MandyJay on -
I don't know that 13-year-old, but I know for a fact I was babysitting when I was 13. And I think I've read that 13 years old is considered old enough by most DCF organizations?
I found this article on WebMD that corroborates 12-13, depending on the child's maturity. It could be that in this case there were too many siblings, or perhaps the mother had mis-gauged the child's maturity level. I have a feeling there's more to the story than we were given.
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Permalink Reply by courtney on -
I have been thinking about this too. I know my daughter is only 6 so I won't be doing it soon, but at what age is it ok?
I was 8 when my dad died and my mom had to go to work. Well there was a 1 hour gap where my younger sister and I where home alone for every day. Then I know I was watching other peoples kids when I turned 12. And I wasn't just watching older kids it was baby's also.
I don't know, where things just different 20 yrs ago or with my background was i way more mature than the average 12 yr old.
This is something that would be nice to hear from other people about.
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Permalink Reply by Pat on
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That's crazy!! My daughter was babysitting for our neighbors when she was 12. A lot depends on maturity..The neighbor was just trying to start trouble...I alwasy thought that 13 was a legally OK age to begin babysitting. I remember in NY that was the age they opened the babysitting prep classes to...
What about all the latch key kids much younger who are alone for hours every day??
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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Vincent on -
I started babysitting relatives when I was 12, a little bit of family friends' kids at 13 and by 15 was had many sitting clients. I didn't read the article but I find it hard to believe there wasn't something else going on. Since when does a parent get arrested for leaving a 13 yr old home? I've never heard this wasn't an acceptable age even by government standards.
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Permalink Reply by Jmarr on -
I thought kids could "legally" babysit at around 12. Isn't that the age that you can sign up for the babysitting course at the YMCA? I guess it all depends on the child's experience, maturity level and also the needs of the children being looked after.
If my 9 and 5 year old get along a little better in about 5 years, I may start to experiment with leaving them alone for a few minutes here and there, and slowly build up the amount of time. Chances are, they will still fight like cats and dogs, so that probably won't happen!
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Sabin on -
I was a "latch key kid" in the 4th grade. My brother and I came home to an empty house every afternoon and it stayed that way for at least a couple of hours. I also started babysitting in the 8th grade, about 13. My main family had 7 kids, ranging in age from 1-10.
So, yeah, not knowing the 13 yr old in question, I can't be sure, but I'm leaning towards the police overreacted.
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Permalink Reply by Shane on
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I also babysat my sister at twelve, and a child down the road a few weeks past my fourteenth birthday. Was also left along for short periods between getting home from school and parents arriving from work. As were most of my friends, unless their mother's did not work.
This incident is just another clear indication of our eroding rights and freedoms. Along with the too powerful and heavy handedness of the government. Be it local or federal.
This is a shameful example of what happens when we give our freedoms up, for an empty promise of protection by those that don't know us, nor truly care about us, nor have insight in what actions are consistenlty correct.
Thank about it. Was the actions taken against this mother, and her family really helpful? Seriously, was it helpful? Fair? Will it enrich the family and it's future. How many mothers or fathers would be arrested in the last twelve months, if all cases similar in nature were known the heavy hand of the authorities. How many of your parents would have been arrested, and even those reading this now, for an example like this or very similar.
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Permalink Reply by Over-wrked Momma on
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I'm not sure of all the circumstances in the this case but gosh it seems a little overboard. I know I was a latch key kid in Kindergarten. My mom worked a very early shift starting at 6 am at a restaurant and I had 3 alarms set. One to get up by, one to start eating breakfast and one to get my butt out the door and walk all by myself to the bus stop. I was only 5. My sister was born when I was 10, so I babysat alot at a very young age. I was probably 11/12 the first time I was left home alone with her. When I was 14, my mom started waitressing at night and I was left home alone with my 4 year old sister. We had moved to Alabama, it was winter and about 35 degress out. At about midnight she came in my room and could not breathe, she was wheezing and could barely stand up. She had never had an asmatha attack before but I had gone to summer camp with an asmatic girl and remembered our counserlor using a paper bag to help her breathe until her inhaler could be found. I did that for about 20 minutes until she could breathe better, wrapped us in a blanket and carried her 1/2 mile to my grandma's (we did not have a phone and she did) Probably one of the scariest moments of my life. Starting at 13 I also babysat my cousin who was 5 years younger than me every summer. I remeber at 15 my sister went outside to play (she was 5) and she saw our neighbors chow mix dog out on his leash. She went to pet it like she had a hundred times and unfortunately the dog attacked. She ended up geting about 20 stiches in her arm and had facial abraisions. Based on this article - those cops would have probably arrested my mother several times over. Was it neglect or child endangerment, I don't think so, it's what she had to do and she knew that I could handle what ever might have come up.
I'm not sure you should base this on a dead set age but on a maturity level. I've met 9/10 year olds who would put 30 year olds to shame.
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Permalink Reply by Shane on
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I agree with your assessment, and your point is very well taken. I must add to the discussion on this topic, with the statement. That government mandate, or governmental concensus, does not make "common sense." It's a real shame, that more and more of our fellow citizens are willing to give up their freedoms, and trust others to make decisions concerning their own and their families self determination.
Government, is just people. People that we have allowed to control ourselves and others. So when some relinquish their rights and freedoms to government, they are actually just allowing certain human beings with their own deficiency and imperfections make decisions over others with not always their best interest at heart.
For the naive, I am not proposing no government. Unless one is an island of himself, which is unlikely. Social contracts are a necessary device for society of men. But a measure of common sense, points to human control over another human be restrainted to those big picture interactions. Not to the little things that actually point to our humanity.
But it does not look too promising when one observes the mad rush by many, to hand over their personal freedoms over many of those aspects of their life that should be theirs. Theirs alone.
Over-wrked Momma said:I'm not sure of all the circumstances in the this case but gosh it seems a little overboard. I know I was a latch key kid in Kindergarten. My mom worked a very early shift starting at 6 am at a restaurant and I had 3 alarms set. One to get up by, one to start eating breakfast and one to get my butt out the door and walk all by myself to the bus stop. I was only 5. My sister was born when I was 10, so I babysat alot at a very young age. I was probably 11/12 the first time I was left home alone with her. When I was 14, my mom started waitressing at night and I was left home alone with my 4 year old sister. We had moved to Alabama, it was winter and about 35 degress out. At about midnight she came in my room and could not breathe, she was wheezing and could barely stand up. She had never had an asmatha attack before but I had gone to summer camp with an asmatic girl and remembered our counserlor using a paper bag to help her breathe until her inhaler could be found. I did that for about 20 minutes until she could breathe better, wrapped us in a blanket and carried her 1/2 mile to my grandma's (we did not have a phone and she did) Probably one of the scariest moments of my life. Starting at 13 I also babysat my cousin who was 5 years younger than me every summer. I remeber at 15 my sister went outside to play (she was 5) and she saw our neighbors chow mix dog out on his leash. She went to pet it like she had a hundred times and unfortunately the dog attacked. She ended up geting about 20 stiches in her arm and had facial abraisions. Based on this article - those cops would have probably arrested my mother several times over. Was it neglect or child endangerment, I don't think so, it's what she had to do and she knew that I could handle what ever might have come up.
I'm not sure you should base this on a dead set age but on a maturity level. I've met 9/10 year olds who would put 30 year olds to shame.
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