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When can your child stay home alone? Neuroscience suggests we’re asking the wrong question (theconversation.com)

submitted 1 week ago by new_otters_raft@piefed.ca to c/parenting@lemmy.world

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Author: Codie C. Lavoie - Pediatric Neurologist and Sleep Specialist, University of Southern California

Caregivers often seek a specific age that their child can be left home alone. However, the neuroscience of brain development suggests that readiness depends on much more than a birthday.

The article is relatively short, so I didn't bother with a TLDR since I'd lose helpful info. If you want, here is a short checklist

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[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 36 points 1 week ago (1 children)

TIL I should not be left at home alone

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 14 points 1 week ago

Can reliably call

Can stay reasonably calm

Can make safe decisions

[–] emmanuel_car@fedia.io 30 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Emotional Regulation

Can stay reasonably calm when something unexpected happens, such as a visitor at the door

Well shit, count me out.

[–] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 week ago

Turns out I can't leave my dog at home

[–] Scipitie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

"there can't be an age based guidance"

And a few lines later "it's confusing that there is no age based guidance".

This article is... A bit too high level for me. "When the child is ready" well yeah, thank you neuroscientist. That's educational guidance since the 90s (perhaps not in Canada) but nothing that can be framed as state law obviously.

[–] justsomeguy@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

It's great. We have a similarly wonky rule at our school. There's some cargo bikes that are supposed to be used by students to make deliveries (the students design and print flyers for other schools and the city sometimes) Eventually the topic of insurance came up. What if a student has an accident? Can a teacher send a student put on a bike? The answer is that the teacher can only send students out if they trust them to be emotional mature enough to handle it. So if a teacher sends a student out and that student has an accident because they're careless it's clearly the teacher's fault for misjudging the student and they would be liable.

The bike has not been moved ever since that rule was put in place.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

I didn't leave my kid home alone till he was 15, only because I didn't have anywhere to go till then.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 3 points 1 week ago

Is your kid a little shithead who is going to start getting into crap as soon as they're unsupervised?

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 2 points 1 week ago

The earliest I remember my parents leaving me at home alone was 7 or 8. My mom didn't even necessarily tell me she was going somewhere. She would just be gone, and I'd start calling my friends' parents to ask if they knew where she was.