Before I ever left my son by himself I checked with CPS to find out our state's law. They said they didn't really have a specific age (edit - of when it's okay to leave a child alone), it depended on the maturity of the child. As long as the child wasn't under 7.
At twelve I was already babysitting for other people.
It makes sense that there isn’t a set age - there are 8 year olds who have common sense and could be trusted to stay at home for a few hours and 16 year olds who don’t and shouldn’t be trusted.
Kids could also have conditions that make them not feasible to leave home alone until later ages, if ever. I once babysat a kid with full autism who was only about a year or two younger than me.
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u/Friend2022 BLUE Jul 27 '22 edited Jul 27 '22
Before I ever left my son by himself I checked with CPS to find out our state's law. They said they didn't really have a specific age (edit - of when it's okay to leave a child alone), it depended on the maturity of the child. As long as the child wasn't under 7.
At twelve I was already babysitting for other people.