Can a 16 year old be left home alone?

ndaly

My family are going away for 2 weeks and I was wondering if I, a 16 year old can stay home. My 19 year old brother will be here but won't be home until 2-3 am every few days

banie01

Your question is very loaded.
It's really more a matter of should a 16y.o be left home alone for 2 weeks rather than can.
I wouldn't leave a teenager unsupervised for that length of time (19y.o brother wouldn't count as supervision).
To my mind it is a question of trust, demonstrated maturity and responsibility that would shape whether I left my kid unsupervised for such an extended period.
If you have earned the trust and your parents agree then happy days...
If not, it's still their call as to whether you stay or go.

Legally there is no bar AFAIK, but if there is I'm sure someone will point it out.

fritzelly

The law revolves around putting a child at risk, no age limit about leaving them alone

Is this a question about how to get out of going on holiday with your parents tho?

Snotty

16 yrs old and I was left for a week on my own in the house, I did have a part time job and I wouldn't have been much of a wild child.

uck51js9zml2yt

Would a16 yo have the ability to deal with something serious going wrong?
In my mind...no

MarkR

Moved from Limerick forum.

micks_address

Separate question but what age can kids be left alone at say for couple of hours?

fritzelly

micks_address wrote: »

Separate question but what age can kids be left alone at say for couple of hours?

Answered above

sexmag

micks_address wrote: »

Separate question but what age can kids be left alone at say for couple of hours?

Depends how long they can be glued to something. We have a 10 year old that can watch something on his tablet for an hour so he's usually fine for us to nip out for 30 minutes

sexmag

fritzelly wrote: »

Answered above

Yeah but depends on the 16 year old and most could be left alone for a few hours.

I was left at how for hours when I was 16,in fact I'd be out of the house for nearly a whole day hanging out with my friends from the time I was 12 so yeah they'd be fine

furiousox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBUe_v6Mi70

CelticRambler

Genevieve Handsome Chairlift wrote: »

Would a16 yo have the ability to deal with something serious going wrong?
In my mind...no

Most of the 16-year olds I know (or have known) are at least as capable of dealing with "something serious" as any adult; or to put it another way, everyone I've ever known who's "lost it" when faced with a serious situation was an adult, and several needed the intervention of a teenager to get them back on the rails.



All of my children got a Ryanair flight as a present for their 16th birthday so they could go off somewhere on their own. They all came home, not a bother; staying at home wouldn't be any more of a risk than going off somewhere foreign. :cool:

skallywag

I'd have loved my parents to leave me on my own alone for 2 weeks when I was 16, they had the sense not to even contemplate it though.

looksee

The odd couple of hours - absolutely yes, in fact it would be good for them.

Overnight, um...maybe

2 weeks - no chance!

It entirely depends on the 16 year old even on the overnight one - if they are in the slightest way likely to announce an open door party on the night you are away then forget it.

If they are the reliable, conscientious type then would it be fair to leave them two weeks with the responsibility of the house? (you can hardly count the 19 year old as being a lot of help if he is on shifts.)

xabi

Just look what happened to Kevin McCallister! Could you handle that op?

CrankyHaus

2 weeks? I'd make sure the kid had some structure like studies, training or a job.
Having a family member call round from time to time could also help.

Really it depends on the 16 year old: most would be grand, problem children would be a disaster.

Plague Maiden

It really depends on the individual. When I was 16 years old (17 years ago) I was working full time, in the gym in the evenings, sport at the weekend, plus I had a girlfriend to spend time with. I was regularly left alone, often for 2-3 weeks at a time while my parents were on holiday/work trips, and it was a good life lesson for me.

I look at my 16 year old nephew now. He's the same in terms of sports, gym, girlfriend, etc. but he's a bit soft around the edges from having life handed to him on a platter. I wouldn't leave him on his own for 24 hours.

LegacyUser

Genevieve Handsome Chairlift wrote: »

Would a16 yo have the ability to deal with something serious going wrong?
In my mind...no

At 16 i'd done my leaving and moved to Dublin to start college full time. Depends totally on the individual and the parents know their own kids if they can or can't. not for you to decide OP, up to your parents.

donegal.

depends on the kid.

some have a lot of cop on, some don't.

pl4ichjgy17zwd

I lived alone 3 days a week from when I was 15 and was alone for two weeks at 16. I never drank alcohol or had more than a couple of friends, so there was no risk of wild parties. That might have influenced my mother's decision. I think it really does depend on the individual.

witchgirl26

I was left when I was 16 for 3 weeks when my parents went on holidays. My sister was 21 at the time but had a full time job and a life so wasn't around that much. Mainly like others have said it came down to the fact that I had a job so some structure to my life, I wasn't really a wild kid and could cook for myself. It was great and I really enjoyed it. That said I have friends who were disasters at 16 and definitely would not have been left by themselves for more than a day.

Lord Nikon

Would you trust them locking the house every night?
Would you trust them to not have lots of friends in?
Would there be drink in the house, that might be taken, or friends who come in, might take.

Would you have a friend or neighbor that could keep an eye on them?

_Brian

I would say it’s completly inappropriate to leave a 16yo to their own devises for two weeks.

pauliebdub

Two weeks is too long for a 16 year old. A weekend or a few days is fine depends on the child and how responsible and mature they are.

Jimmy.

If you leave credit card, keys for the vw Tiguan you will be ok.

Reati

As in countless replies its a matter if the 16year old is trusted enough.

I was, given my parents worked evenings so I had to walk home from seconrdy school and mind myself till 9pm or 10pm. In fact I was trusted to go off on holidays by myself with the Gf at the time as long as we didn't come back pregnant!

My friends parents would do 2 weeks in Spain and he'd stay home. They were trusting and we spend most of the two weeks in his gaff but we respected that trust and never threw parties or wrecked the gaff. They always came back to a house cleaner than they left. We'd another wild child friend though who ya couldn't leave alone for 5 mins at 16 or he'd have the house burnt down.

So its all relative to the 16 y.o as been said

LegacyUser

looksee wrote: »

The odd couple of hours - absolutely yes, in fact it would be good for them.

This is a 16 year old, not a 12 year old. In two years' time s/he should be ready to be able to live by themselves, or with a group of people in a flat, because that's when you're an adult.

looksee wrote: »

2 weeks - no chance!

Having said that, 2 weeks can be an ask... and if this is during term would be a bit stressful. Not the end of the world though, but it is a big ask of them alright.

looksee wrote: »

if they are in the slightest way likely to announce an open door party on the night you are away then forget it.

I think it goes without saying that that they'd have to be semi-responsible for this to be considered.

D3luka

ndaly wrote: »

My family are going away for 2 weeks and I was wondering if I, a 16 year old can stay home. My 19 year old brother will be here but won't be home until 2-3 am every few days

Best thing to do is start organising the house party now. Get your brother to buy the alcohol as he's legal age. Facebook is a great place to get started on people to invite, make sure it's a public event so anybody can view it.

Hitman3000

Depends on the level of maturity of the 16 year old and how much trust his/her parents have in them.
Although some parents no matter how mature their 16 year old is would not leave them at home for 2 weeks while so far away.

Tar.Aldarion

Depends on maturity, not age. Parents are better positioned to decide that.

For a lot of kids I knew at that age it would have been a definite no.

Dial Hard

It was three months ago, I'd imagine the fight has long been had at this stage.