fraser

Depends on the kid I suppose.

DunRoaminTheUK

I would still say no to even twelve. I think by the time they are 16(ish) they are more capable of dealing with the situation but I guess it depends on the child in question?

merleoberon

or maybe more the parents?? when i was a nipper we all walked to school unattended, over really busy roads from about the age of 5 and no-one batted an eye. in those days many women/mothers didnt drive and having two cars was for the rich.

on the other hand i was terrified to let mine walk to school on their own even though the actual route was safer and they only had to cross one road which was not a main road. eventually i gave in to their demands to walk but i was really nervous about it for ages. this was when youngest was 6 (nearly 7) and oldest two were 8 and 10.

i admit i did leave them alone in bed and go into see my sister who lived next door when they were babies. we also used to leave them in the hotel room in blackpool and use the "baby crying" phone thing that they had. remember the "baby crying in chalet number 6' at butlins anyone??

on the other hand some parents would not leave their children unattended at all until they were much older. i worked with a woman who had never spent a night away from her daughter who was now 15 and who never hardly let the kid out her sight - i dont think thats healthy either.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

There is, without doubt, a difference from child to child but I guess that if there is any legal cutoff point, and I'm not even sure there is, then that's going to just be a hard and fast age limit.

I'm quite happy to leave my 14 year old son alone.

moneypenny20

Apart from depending on the child, I'd say it depends on the circumstance, the location, the length of time etc etc etc. To many variables for a definitive answer but as you say, a 4 year old and lets not forget two two year olds is just plain irresponsible.

DunRoaminTheUK

I'm sure your instinct and knowledge about your son allows you to feel comfortable with that decision and you would be right to follow your instinct but in the case of the McCanns I cannot for a moment believe that their instincts were telling them the same thing? They probably knew their was some greater risk associated with the act but decided to take the risk nonetheless so that they could have a "child-free" evening.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Agreed... big difference between my six foot, 80kg, Neanderthal son and a four year old girl.. and a couple of smaller ones as well.

Lorna at Vicenza

Most places have 12 as a legal age to be left home alone.

Famous 5

Australia has no law stating the legal age at which children can be left alone. Instead there is a legal obligation for parents to care for their children properly. This website sets out some helpful guidelines:

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articl...one_-_cyh.html

As far as I am aware the UK does not have legislation on this point either on the basis that one child might be much more mature than another of the same age so that setting a specific age could result in vulnerable children being left to look after themselves when they are not capable of doing so.

scottishcelts

Not in the Uk I'm sure! I think 12 is too young for a young 12 and possibly ok for an older minded 12 year old (not for me though, i wouldnt leave my now 10 year old on his own in 2 years time!)

moneypenny20

But apart from the legalities of the whole event, why oh why would you go on a FAMILY holiday with other families, and then leave half the family behind when you go for a meal? When we used to go on family holidays with the girls when they were little, we would go out for family meals both lunchtime and evening. OK we would go back to the apartment slightly earlier than had we been a couple but the kids were on holiday and if that meant they had a snooze in their buggies whilst we had a drink in a bar on the Algarve or wherever listening to the waves crashing on the beach then so be it. What sort of holiday is it whereby you go out for a meal but every 20 minutes or so, you get up, walk back to the apartment and check on your children and then walk back to find the food has gone cold, the conversation moved on etc? Hardly fun.

Damson

When I was a kid I used to walk to primary school (up a bloody steep hill approx 1 mile) on my own - I'd have been about 6/7. There's no way I would even contemplate that with mine except when they go to senior school (the bus passes our door and stops right outside the school so it doesn't make sense to drive there). Ref leaving kids alone and going out, my parents used to do it as my brothers were 2 years and 7 years older than me, so they must have thought it OK; again I won't be doing this for quite some time. I was thinking about this last night and remembered Mum and Dad going across to the pub at Butlins and leaving my brother and me alone in the room (we'd have been about 9 and 11) and my brother was arsing around and managed to electrocute himself as the back of the plug on the fridge was nearly off. I think the problem is that some parents go into holiday mode and get swept along with (misplaced) complacency, in that I think they take the risks that they wouldn't at home, as Britain has been deemed less safe than Portugal. We have always booked self catering, so that we can have a seperate room for the kids. That way we can watch TV and have a wine without worrying about the kids.

ketty

I think 12 is ok to leave them alone, for a couple of hours.
You will start not to leave them alone again, when the kids reach 14 or elder, if your property should be protected.

La Vida loca

I have dragged my kids everywhere with me, and never left them alone as they are part of the package.

Sorry but no food, wine or a boring conversation with my mates would ever come first over leaving my children in a unlocked apartment across the way, never ever....

Call me what you like, as some have but I am never as low as what the Mcanns did.

I hope that little girl is with the angels and maybe meet her parents in years to come in another place....

mabozar

In this day in age it would have been a blessing for her to have drowned in the appartment pool. What she is suffering now who knows.

Carol