A child at home alone.....................

i think you are doing the right thing, however old she may seem to be i feel she is still a child. i think it is vise of you not to leave her. i personally feel after the age of 15 its ok to let her be at home alone but for a short while.

Well, that depends on the child. Whether she/he likes it or not. You should go ask the kid, if he is comfortable with that.

A great deal on this depends on the child. Not only their age but their maturity level. It also depends on how long of a time alone you are talking about. Most 12 year olds I have found can stay home for a couple of hours alone. I know as a child I was staying home from school alone at the age of 8. DCF here states at 10 they can stay home for an hour alone. Again though a great deal depends on the child and also the area you live in. I know some 17 year olds who can't be alone without getting into trouble. Also if your area isn't very safe one might not want to leave a child home alone. I don't think there is any set age but if the child is on par for maturity level and the area is not one you'd worry about then I'd say at 12 they can be home for a while on their own.

My sister is 12 and my Mam is just starting to let her stay at home by herself, but I was allowed to when I was 8/9. As my Mam said, I was a lot more mature and sensible at that age than my sister was. Therefore for that reason I think it is more to do with maturity than age. And when you say left alone at home, it all depends what you mean .. is it for an hour? 5 hours? a day? a weekend? I was only ever left alone for a couple of hours until I was about 13 and it could be as long as a day.