What is the legal age?

[gamb]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey
What is the legal age that a child can be left unattended at home for a short amount of time? Thanks in advance.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey
What is the legal age that a child can be left unattended at home for a short amount of time? Thanks in advance.

1 day****************************.

 

[gamb]

1 day? um as in one day old? that is insane .. Can someone please tell me the legal age. Thanks in advance..

 

[Zigner]

1 day? um as in one day old? that is insane .. Can someone please tell me the legal age. Thanks in advance..

Your question is WAY too vague...
Technically, if I walk to the end of my driveway while my 1 day old is asleep in the house, I have left the child unattended at home for a short period of time.
Please be more specific with your question.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Your question is WAY too vague...
Technically, if I walk to the end of my driveway while my 1 day old is asleep in the house, I have left the child unattended at home for a short period of time.
Please be more specific with your question.

and scruffy said no one would 'GET IT"

 

[fairisfair]

and scruffy said no one would 'GET IT"

I "got" it too, although I was thinking more along the lines of leaving the baby in the nursery and going into the kitchen, and I was thinking,then there are others of us who should never be left unattended!!!

 

[gamb]

Thanks for letting me know how vague I was as there are some people who would actually leave a 1 day old child alone unattended as we read about it or hear it on the news.

Scenario: Responsible child age 12 gets off school bus and is left alone for approximately 30 minutes...

I just wanted to know if there was an age limit as to when a child can be left unattended and the parent not having to worry about DYFS coming to get him/her because the parent has to be at work for the 30 minutes that the child is alone.

 

[Zigner]

Thanks for letting me know how vague I was as there are some people who would actually leave a 1 day old child alone unattended as we read about it or hear it on the news.

Scenario: Responsible child age 12 gets off school bus and is left alone for approximately 30 minutes...

I just wanted to know if there was an age limit as to when a child can be left unattended and the parent not having to worry about DYFS coming to get him/her because the parent has to be at work for the 30 minutes that the child is alone.

I wouldn't think this would be a problem...unless, of course, your child is somehow injured and wouldn't have been if properly supervised (ie: gets badly burned trying to cook a grilled cheese sandwich)


Disclaimer: This post is based only on the facts presented by OP. There are WAY too many variables to be taken in to account for this parent to take parenting advice from a bunch of anonymous strangers.

 

[gamb]

I knew getting burned or something along those lines would result in negligence and for sure DYFS would be involved. But there are rules in place for the child 1 being no cooking... I just wanted to make sure I just didn’t want a trooper coming to my door saying hey you left your child alone for 30 minutes you’re going to jail... Thank you Zigner

 

[fairisfair]

this is what I found

In New Jersey, the law does not prescribe a certain age at which a child may be left alone. The New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) uses age 7 as an estimate of the youngest age at which a child can be left safely at home.

In all honesty, it was from a library source. I do not know what resource they cited.

 

[stealth2]

I'm in NJ and have no problem leaving my 12yo at home alone for longer than 30 minutes.

 

[gamb]

Thanks everyone for your time.

 

[cbg]

I am not and was not in NJ but at the age of 12 I was being left alone to babysit my younger siblings aged, at that time, 6, 7, & 8, for as long as two and a half hours.

I would think a reasonably bright 12 year old could be left alone for 30 minutes without disaster.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

I am not and was not in NJ but at the age of 12 I was being left alone to babysit my younger siblings aged, at that time, 6, 7, & 8, for as long as two and a half hours.

I would think a reasonably bright 12 year old could be left alone for 30 minutes without disaster.

Sweetheart, we're not talking about the dark ages

 

[Zigner]

I am not and was not in NJ but at the age of 12 I was being left alone to babysit my younger siblings aged, at that time, 6, 7, & 8, for as long as two and a half hours.

I would think a reasonably bright 12 year old could be left alone for 30 minutes without disaster.

I know where you're coming from, but I'd like to point out that it's not how "bright" the child is...my 12 year old is extremely bright, bordering genius level...and I have concerns leaving him unattended for more than 3 minutes...