Suz

Hun, no mater what, you did the right thing

Dionne

what is the law with leaving children alone?

im sure 11 is legal? but how long for?

Jo

I think its 11 if you nip to the shop or something but not to be in charge of others, especially a 2 yr old i would have thought

Jo

Just found this, seems quite a gray area TBH

Leaving children at home alone

What the law says

There is no law that states the minimum age that a child can be left alone. However, it is an offence to leave a child alone when doing so puts him or her at risk.

How do you decide if you can safely leave a child alone?

There are many important things to consider before you decide to leave a child alone. These include:

• the age of the child
• the child's level of maturity and understanding
• the place where child will be left
• how long the child will be left alone, and how often
• whether or not there are any other children in the household.

For example, most parents would think it's OK to leave a 16-year-old alone for the evening, but to leave them for a week would be unacceptable.
Many young children play outdoors with other children without a parent or carer being present. As they are unsupervised, they are 'alone', but most people would agree that this is an important part of growing up.
You are the best judge of your child's level of maturity and responsibility.

A few other points to guide you:

• Never leave a baby or very young child alone at home, whether asleep or awake, even for a few minutes. It doesn't take long for unsupervised young children or babies to injure themselves.
• Most children under 13 should not be left for more than a short period.
• No child under 16 should be left overnight.
  

If you do leave a child alone, remember:

• If possible, leave a telephone number where you can be contacted, and be available to answer it immediately.
• Talk to your child about keeping safe at home and point out the potential dangers. Tell them not to answer the door to strangers.
• Give clear instructions about what to do if there's an emergency. All children left alone should be able to phone the emergency services.
• Leave a list of trusted people they can contact.
• Put obvious dangers out of reach of children, eg medicines, chemicals, matches, etc.
• Make sure that the child is happy about the arrangements and confident about being left.
• Tell the child when you'll be back, and make sure you're back on time.
• Talk to him or her about it afterwards.
  

C

Caroline

OMG Imi, i just rad this, i think u done right thing. As Suz said what if somethings happened to the mum when she went out. I was thinking the same when i read it, either that or she's abandoned them.

I'm sure no one will think its you.

gaby

aw hun, sorry you've been left in this position! I think you've def done the right thing. if you are mistaken then they wont know its you. i'm sure if they asked the police / social services they'll just say they got a annonomous phonecall. but def sounds worrying to me I think ur instincts are right

Imi

Well police and social arrived ( I think)

Been there hell of a while ... TBH imnot really paying attention im hoovering and getting tea ready.

TBH im scared to go out of me front door lol!

xxx

Suz

Awe Imi, I hope the kids are ok.

Cat

Imi dont worry hun you have done the right thing, I cant believe anyone would leave their child like that!!!

You phoned the police not social, so if, if the parents get funny at all, simply tell them how you were concerned at them being gone so long, that you were worried that they may have been in car accident or something, (which may be the case anyway) so its not like you were grassing them up, just that you were worried in case something had happened to them, and you couldnt get an answer from the kids cause they didnt open the door. They cant begrudge you that, afterall that then looks like its cause you were worried about them (even if it was really because you were concerned about the kids).

KX

U done the right thing-Social work will probably be there, making arrangements for kiddies to go into foster care. Bless them.

I would never leave my child alone no matter how long or short it was for! It sickens me!