Remeber Latchkey Kids? Were You One? I Was And I Survived! LOL

To start with, I don’t think it is illegal to have a latch key kid (or at least it is not illegal here in the UK).

From my understanding of child law here, it is actually not illegal to leave a child from any age, so long as they are not in charge of any other child below the age of 7. Which in my view leaves a lot of doubt over what is moral and right regarding the law.

Now, when I was a child, I was not a latch key kid, even at times that my mother needed to take on a job to help ease my father financially, me and my siblings were always taken to my nans or one of my numerous aunts or uncles (I have a very large family).

I was given a key at the age of 11, this is when I started secondary school, and my mum gave all of us keys to the house at this age, even if she knew she would be home for us. I think it was more to show that she found us to be old enough to take on responsibility.

When I was 14, my mother needed to take on a job, at this time my youngest sisters were 1 and 2 years old, the job my mum took was an evening job. Sometimes the time she needed to leave for work clashed with what time my father came home from his job, so I was asked to baby sit my sisters for around 30 minutes after school, which I didn’t mind doing.

My son is now 10 and so far does not have his own key, I am always here for him when he finishes school, the only time he has ever been left alone is if I want to walk the dog and he doesn’t, and then it is for 10 minutes at most (and even then, if my partner is in, my son is with him).

When my son reaches 11, we will give him a key, and then I may consider doing my own thing (like taking on a job), but I don’t really like the idea of leaving my son to his own devices too often, as I believe I had him, and so I should be here to take care of him.

Each and every parent will inevitably do what they think is right, but for me personally, I don’t like the idea of leaving kids at a very young age to fend for themselves.

I was definitely a Latchkey kid from the age of 10-17. A lot of my friends I use to go to school with were also Latchkey kids as well. We would often go to each others house sometimes after school and fix snacks, play music loud and sneak cigarettes..LOL ( well this happened when I was 13-17 years of age)But I remember when I was 10 I had to set my own alarm clock & wake up the next morning by myself and make myself breakfast and get myself ready for school and lock the door being me when I left because there was nobody in the house. I was raised in a single parent home and my Mom was always at work. And I also remember coming home to a empty house and sitting in front of MTV for a couple of hours after school . My mom would work until 11 pm most of the time and I was often alone sometimes until my much older brother or mom came home from work. Now day's the state would probably slap child abuse charges on any parent leaving young kids alone at home. I believe Latchkey kids are very rare now days .

Yep, I was. My mom left a key where my sister and I could get to it to get inside. Yeah, those were much better times when you could actually TRUST most people! It's so sad that those days are gone forever.

My kids weren't latchkey kids because I worked from my home. I even picked them up from school. They could have walked, but a the time our neighborhood had some less-than-desirable elements in it.

In Maryland, where we lived at the time my kids were in school, it was only legal to leave your kids home alone if they were 12 years old or above. If you had an 11 year old at home alone and something happened where emergency people were needed, you could actually be arrested!

Heck, I babysat when I was 10 years old! Not anymore... if I were 10 now, I'D be the one needing the babysitter!!!

Man, how times have changed!

I was never a latchkey child, my older brother was there when my mother had to work after my parents got a divorce, before that my mom was always there. I am sure there are some latchkey kids around. Where I live they have what is called a latchkey program, a place for the kids to go after school until a parent gets home from work, they are given a snack and can play sports in the gym or play other games, do homework or whatever and are not home alone.
I was always home for my kids before and after school, I was fortunate enough not to have to work outside of the home.
My youngest daughter when she was working had her son in daycare then when he started school there was a home across from the school who had after school care, she is not working now but taking college online courses so she is home again now and has been for the past few years.

I dont remeber carring my own key but my mom worked and I had to get into the house some how didnt I?
May back then we never locked the back door see it was in the 50s safer then and;lots of people never ever locked thier doors even at night.
My kids werent for I was always home.

I was and so were my kids! We lived on a farm and got dropped off by the bus and spent time alone until mom or dad got home...back then we never locked our doors...and I was a single parent. My kids came home to an empty house too....and did their own thing until I got home. You are right....in this day and age everything is different!

I never really was a latchkey kid, though I was alone all the time. My mom worked at night and slept in the day, so when I came home the door was already unlocked and my mom was asleep. We never locked our doors back then, because there just wasn't any danger really. There could have been the first time, but there never was. My brother got home from school before me and he graduated and went to college while I was still in high school... but as small kids my brother would come home and go to his friends house, but I would be home and my mom would be asleep.

My mom worked at nights as a bartender so usually she was home when us kids got off school but if not we where locked outside lol we lived in the country so we would just hang out or go over to my grandmas house up the road until mom got home. When we moved into town mom always had a key for one of us kids to get in. It was fun when mom wasn't home lol.

Ok I remember that term, but then times were very different then and so were kids. that was back when the neighbors would check on you while your folks were'nt home and therewas no computer in every house and the kdis didn't have cell phones ( heck many didn't even have cordless land lines) and there wasnt a pedofile on every corner... Times have chagnes, I would leave my teens alone today I have 5 kids (28,27,25, 18 and 14) but I did when my older three were younger. (13, 12 and 10) but only for short periods of time and never with the littlest ones.
My 14 year old has a key, but I am usually home so he rarely has to use it.

My siblings and I weren't only latchkey kids, we were also left overnight alone quite often. Sometimes my mom would send for us and we would get a room at the hotel where she was at. Before your imagination gets too far, she had a male friend who lived in a hotel. We had run of the place and spent a lot of time irritating the staff. Usually though, we were left at home alone where my sisters took great joy in tormenting me.