FRIDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Many parents leave their
tweens home alone for an extended period of time, even though they
are not confident these 11- to 13-year-olds have the knowledge or
skills to stay safe, a new poll finds.
The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital
National Poll on Children's Health reports that parents it polled
fretted over whether their children could safely use the kitchen
appliances, know where to go during a severe storm or give out
personal information online or over the phone. Still, one in five
of these parents admitted they've let their tweens stay home alone
for an entire day.
"There is no magic age at which a child can be left home alone.
It typically depends on a parent's judgment about how mature that
child is, and how ready they are to take on the responsibility of
being home alone," Dr. Matthew M. Davis, director of the National
Poll on Children's Health, said in a prepared statement.
"Regardless, when parents decide to leave their children home
alone, there are several common at-home safety concerns they need
to consider and address with kids ahead of time."
The National Poll on Children's Health finds:
- Almost two out of three parents let tweens stay home by
themselves for one hour or two.
- 20 percent of parents have left tweens home alone for an entire
day.
- Parents have more confidence that their tweens will follow
guidelines for gun and fire safety than for Internet or storm
safety.
- More than 25 percent of parents polled said they had not talked
much with their tweens about neighborhood, Internet or home safety
before leaving them on their own.
- The more confident a parent was in their children's safety
skills, the more likely they were to leave them at home for more
than an hour.
- More than 28 percent of parents whose tweens stay home alone
lacked confidence that their children would not give out personal
information via the Internet or over the phone.
"We were surprised to find the proportion of parents who are not
very confident their children will follow safety guidelines, even
though they are having their tweens stay home alone," said Davis,
an associate professor of general pediatrics and internal medicine
at the U-M Medical School. "This suggests that more parents need to
have conversations with their kids about safety before they leave
them home alone."
More information
The Home Safety Council has more about
children and safety.
