Baby sitting

[andrew.bowles30]

hi it has made me angry a woman has been given a police caution after leaving her 14 year old in charge of his little brother today in the pappers she left them for 30 mins and now she is treated like a crimanel she even may lose her job becouse of the dreded crb checker
so you cannot let your 14 year old enven take them to town even shoping then or even let them baby sit for you it is an afence acording to the police
if she loses her job the only pepole to suffer is her kids what do we do with all the famils that have baby siters arrest them all and end all there careres as well if you do it to one person then every one is in the same boat and it needs opening up to how old you after be befor you look after you own brothers and sisters or baby sit for any one els

[Thumper]

this must be english law,as i was told just a few days ago by a police officer that technically you can leave your child unattended at home if you THINK they are responsible enough! I must admit I was shocked x

[cuddlepop]

This is getting ridiculous.

I remember taking my 4 year old brother to the "pictures" every saturday and I was only 8.
Granted that was in the 60,s.

No one batted an eye lid then to see two 8 year old taking their wee brothers to the pictures a few streets away from home.

That,s probably the reason why I'm so independently minded today.

[andrew.bowles30]

hi no its country wide sorry it needs clearing up by govs

[brandy]

so what if this was a 14 year old with thier own child.. would they then get done for endangerment or what not?

[changilass]

I think the rule is that you cannot leave your child with anyone of any age if they are not responsible enough to look after them.

I assume that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Can you provide a link to the story please Andrew?


From Lothian and Border Poice site:

There is no specific minimum age for a babysitter. Parents or carers must adopt a common sense policy, with the babysitter being able to look after both himself/herself and the child. Similarly, there are no legal guidelines regarding the age at which a child can be left at home alone. The rule of thumb is that the child should be able to look after himself/herself. Again, common sense should apply. Having said that, under the Children and Young Person (Scotland) Act 1937, it is an offence for anyone over the age of 16, who has responsibility for a child under that age to wilfully assault, ill-treat, neglect, abandon or expose the child. This may include bullying, frightening or causing suffering or injury to the child's health.

[brandy]

i can *G*
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/...ar-old-brother

[Beat Bug]

This was discussed on the Jeremy Vine show on radio 2 today. Mixed feeling all round. I've always believed that a 13 year old could be left alone, but if looking after a younger one you had to be 14. My eldest was 15 before I left her with my 12 year old while I went to work during school holidays, but my 9 year old son was always taken to a child minder, as he was a handful. Looks like I've committed a crime many times over!

[andrew.bowles30]

this is what i mean does it mean we are all crims for leaving our children with older ones but thats life we try to right but they dont come with a hand book so you get it wrong some times she should have been told off yes not given a caution as the law dose not tell you every thing you need to know so every day you could be braking the law with your kids sorry every one just think about it ???????????????

[canadagirl]

Holy smokes! Here in Canada the unofficial guideline is 12 years, that's when they start taking the redcross babysitting courses etc. But we have no law per se. Daycares actually usually don't take kids once they're 12.