Community Corner
Home Alone: It's Not Like The Movie
Workshop held at Wildwood City Hall prepares children to stay at home alone with confidence, while coaching parents how to be supportive about it.
Have you prepared your child or children for staying home alone?
Area families who attended the Home Alone Safety Workshop held at on Tuesday evening now are more confident their children are well prepared for the situation. St. Louis Children's Hospital community education instructor, Pam Rau discussed safety, guidelines for rules, situations children may encounter, cyber safety, first aid and emergency procedures to prepare children ages 9 to 12 years for staying home by themselves.
Although some states require children to be of 12 years old or older, Missouri has no age limit for children to stay home alone.
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Rau said there is no "magic" age as to when a child is ready, or a parent is comfortable with their child staying home alone. She said parents should start off with leaving their child home alone for short periods of time.
She said children's readiness depends on the responsibility of the child, and with the tools discussed in the workshop, parents and children leave prepared and confident.
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Rau suggested walking through your home with your child, and setting rules with them. She also recommended pointing out emergency exits and discussing what appliances are allowed to be used in the kitchen, such as microwave and oven safety. Emergency phone numbers and an outline list of rules should be placed on the refrigerator.
Some factors to consider when setting home alone rules with your child follow:
- Are they allowed to have friends over?
- Are they allowed to go anywhere outside of the home?
- Can they play in the yard, use the trampoline, pool, skateboards or bikes?
- Are they allowed activities, such as TV or Internet use?
- Can they receive phone calls?
- What about answering the door?
- Are they allowed to cook on the stovetop, oven or microwave?
- What do you want them to do in severe weather?
- Is there a neighbor or friend to contact if an emergency arises?
Some rules may be different when children are home alone than when parents are home.
Rau suggested that children should be given a house key, not to leave one hidden in the yard somewhere or to use a back door as an entry.