mikeandlis said:
I live in Indiana, I need to know what laws are there about at what age can a child be leagally left alone, or to babysit other smaller children?
1. This is a parental decision based on the individual child(ren). Some children are more mature than others. It also involves alot of common sense from the parents to make such a decision based on many things. But..IF something were to happen while the child is alone, the parents could be held responsible for whatever happend.
2. This is the same thing. Parental decision based on the child(ren). Where I live, you can take classes to be a babysitter, the ages for the class is 11yrs-16yrs. So, an 11 yr old may be mature enough and able to babysit...While other 11 yr olds may not be. It is solely based on individual children.
I have a 10 yr old (11 next month) that stays home by himself. We no longer need daycare/babysittters for him. But..even though he is capable of watching himself, I wouldn't allow him to babysit on his own at this time in his life. Now, when I was a child; I was staying home alone at 8 and babysitting at 11-12. I was able to handle it and was mature enough for it.
What it boils down to is it is up to the parents. But keep in mind, if something were to happen the parents would be looked upon regarding the whole situation.
[Edited by MySonsMom on 02-09-2001 at 02:48 PM]
