Debating Parenting Laws

by Don

Friday, September 11, 2009 at 07:23 AM EDT

Law makers have made sure about the age of children, when they can vote, drive, drink, and marry. But when it comes to legalize a particular age for the children to be left alone at home, law makers always take a step behind. Experts say that it is quite a tough job for the law makers to take a viable decision regarding the mentioned issue. According to them, it solely depends on the maturity and intelligence level of the child. It also depends on the kind of neighborhood they live in. So, many such factors have to taken into consideration, which makes it very difficult to set an age for the children to be left alone at home. That is the reason, that it is always recommended to leave this decision to the parents, as they are the people who understand the circumstances and consequences better than any one else.

This issue again got heavy attention when robbers attacked a home, where a 13 year old Plano girl was left alone with her 6 year old sister.

Texas’ Department of Family and Protective Services always makes sure that people understand the difference between unsupervised and neglecting. There are the cases when a 10 year old accidentally sets the home on fire while making toasts when he was alone at home. Some couples leave their 10 year old kid to take care of 5 year old kid. So before parents take a decision, they must understand whether the child can handle the extreme situations in a calm manner or not. According to the director of the American Bar Association’s Center on Children and the Law in Washington, D.C. it is all about the common sense of the parents.

Shallah Barfield, mother of two girls was later condemned by many other working parents for taking such decision. She said “It was summer time and my husband would come back to home by afternoon. The doors were also locked and my elder daughter is very quick at her thinking.” Herndon-DeLaRosa mother of three was terrified the decision of Barfiled couple. According to her, when children are 8-10 years old, they are not able to handle such horrifying situations, regardless how smart they might be.

Dr. Kerby Alvy, a child psychologist supports the decision of Barfiled couple. According to her, sometimes an eight year old is far more mature than a fifteen old kid. But apparently, it was just unfortunate that such incident happened.

This article originally appeared on Another Harvard Blog.