GREENSBORO, N.C. — In a few more weeks, Triad students have a summer break. Although kids will be on school vacation for the next few months, this isn't the case for parents. This means that parents and students will figure out how the kids will spend their time during the day.
Some kids might want to stay home by themselves. A rite of passage for all kids, but it can be unnerving for parents. Age shouldn't be the defining factor in deciding if your child is ready to stay home alone. You may decide that a 13-year-old is a good age to let your kid stay home alone, but they may not be able to handle it.
To decide if your child is ready to stay home alone, here are a few questions to consider. Do they follow the rules? If not, how can you ensure they'll follow the rules when you're not home? How do they handle stress? When the power goes off, how do they handle being in the dark? And do they know what to do? Knowing how your child responds to stress or when things don't go quite right will assure you of how they'll be when you're not home.
If you think your child is ready to stay home alone, you can do a test run. Before you do the test run, talk to them about your expectations and how to handle situations like the power going out, and have a list of emergency contacts in case they can't reach you. Then you can leave them home for about 30 minutes and see how they do.
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