When Your Kids Have To Be Home Alone

Ronald Porep, Republishing from SafetyIssues Issue 23

Volume 4 Issue 41

April 2005
We are all shocked by news stories of parents who leave children home alone.  We have all read about the mother who left her preteen daughters home alone for weeks to travel with her lover.  Or, we have read about the drug addicted dad who left his little daughter home alone to get his next fix.  Those parents are unarguably unfit.

They deserve to lose their children and to be jailed for a long time. But, there are legitimate reasons why a parent may have to leave a child home alone.  Emergency doctor visits during which no one will watch your children and you can not take the children with. Family members severely injured or even dying. 

There are legitimate reasons a child may have to be left home alone. There are ways though you can make your child decently safe at home even if you are not there. Here are some of them.

For fire safety, you must have a smoke alarm on each level of the house (or for homes on one level, near the kitchen and all bedrooms). Test them to make sure they all work. When you test the alarms, have a fire drill so your children know what to do if the alarms go off. Replace any broken electrical cords and use no more than two plugs per outlet. And keep your hot water heater below 54 C to prevent scalding.

In case of an injury, assemble a basic kit with your child, explaining what each item is and how to use it to the child old enough to understand what you are teaching. The kit should include a box of different-sized bandages for small cuts; sterile gauze pad for larger cuts, with adhesive tape to hold it and small scissors to cut the tape; tweezers to remove slivers; peroxide to clean cuts and cotton balls to apply it; and digital thermometer to check for fever. Keep a cold pack in the freezer. And, if your child is old enough (many are even in preteen years) a basic CPR and first aid class would be something your child should attend. Some schools are covering first aid in health classes. IF your school is not teaching first aid, find out why. Everyone should learn basic CPR and first aid.

To increase your home security, whether you are home with your child or not, install secure locks for all doors and windows. Further, lock up matches, lighters, medications, household cleaners, and other harmful substances in a safe place. Make sure they are clearly labeled and in their original containers. Lock up alcoholic beverages, and check to make sure they do not mysteriously disappear. Store firearms and ammunition separately and under lock and key. And, use light timers so your child doesn't come home to a dark house.

With physical home security should come mental home security. List important numbers beside each telephone and/or program them in. Equip your phone with an answering device or service so it can take messages. Buy a phone with caller I.D. Tell your child to answer the phone only for specific callers. Let the phone take a message for all others. And, if someone your child does not know demands information about who is home and where you are, encourage your child to lie. I know. All parents do not want their children to lie but in certain situations it is the best thing to do. If a stranger calls, your child should tell that person you are busy right now but will call back if the person leaves his name and number even if you are not home. A legitimate caller will not mind leaving his or her information but someone who intends your children harm will not give any information. If the caller keeps pushing for your whereabouts tell your child to hang up on the caller and then call the police giving the police the caller’s number if it shows up on the caller ID previously mentioned.

Speaking of the police, lying to a police officer on the phone is okay for your child. Some child abusers pretend to be police to find out if your child is home alone. IF the caller is a real officer though, he will not mind sending a squad car to your home with real officers to talk with your child in case of an emergency. A good officer knows that a child must do anything he or she can to be safe. A good parent does all he or she can to keep his or her child safe. That includes preparing a child for the worst - to be home alone.
 
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