At Home, Alone: Safety Tips for Latchkey Children
At Home, Alone: Safety Tips for Latchkey Children
by Debra Mayer, Communication Officer, Manitoba Child Care Association
When is it OK to allow your child to come home alone after school? How do you judge that your child has the maturity to handle this milestone towards growing up? What are the steps your family may want to go through to prepare your child for this new responsibility? Should your child be a "latchkey kid?"
According to Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a well known professor of pediatrics and writer, "right through the teen years, youngsters desperately need the supervision of loving adults. They need a responsible person who cares about them to greet them after school and say "how was your day?" They need an adult present to offset peer pressure and to put limits on exploration into such things as matches, inappropriate TV, or in the case of teenagers, drugs, sex and the liquor cabinet."
While community based child care programs, activities organized by Parks and Recreation or the local community club, or after school lessons fit the needs of many families, some older school age children begin campaigning to come home after school at about age 10. Yet according to Manitoba's Child Welfare laws, no child under the age of 12 is to be left alone without suitable provision. What is that suitable provision? For your family, this may mean a well thought out plan of action for your child's safety and a careful assessment of your child's readiness to assume responsibility for self care.
Here are some readiness indicators:
Does she want to be on her own?
Is he afraid to be alone in the house?
Can you depend on her to follow the house rules?
Does he complete his assigned chores as agreed upon?
Can you rely on her to tell the truth?
Does he have common sense?
Can she deal with unexpected situations in a positive way?
Is he self motivated?
Can she amuse herself or does she require constant supervision?
To read the complete article, go to: this link
If you would like to add your own child safety tip, email it to Safe Child by CLICKING HERE.
by Debra Mayer, Communication Officer, Manitoba Child Care Association
When is it OK to allow your child to come home alone after school? How do you judge that your child has the maturity to handle this milestone towards growing up? What are the steps your family may want to go through to prepare your child for this new responsibility? Should your child be a "latchkey kid?"
According to Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a well known professor of pediatrics and writer, "right through the teen years, youngsters desperately need the supervision of loving adults. They need a responsible person who cares about them to greet them after school and say "how was your day?" They need an adult present to offset peer pressure and to put limits on exploration into such things as matches, inappropriate TV, or in the case of teenagers, drugs, sex and the liquor cabinet."
While community based child care programs, activities organized by Parks and Recreation or the local community club, or after school lessons fit the needs of many families, some older school age children begin campaigning to come home after school at about age 10. Yet according to Manitoba's Child Welfare laws, no child under the age of 12 is to be left alone without suitable provision. What is that suitable provision? For your family, this may mean a well thought out plan of action for your child's safety and a careful assessment of your child's readiness to assume responsibility for self care.
Here are some readiness indicators:
Does she want to be on her own?
Is he afraid to be alone in the house?
Can you depend on her to follow the house rules?
Does he complete his assigned chores as agreed upon?
Can you rely on her to tell the truth?
Does he have common sense?
Can she deal with unexpected situations in a positive way?
Is he self motivated?
Can she amuse herself or does she require constant supervision?
To read the complete article, go to: this link
If you would like to add your own child safety tip, email it to Safe Child by CLICKING HERE.
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