Is it normal to leave children alone at home for months at a time?

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5 Comments

I only ask since I see this a lot in media. I do realize not everything on television is fact. However sometimes its based on factual or outdated situations. Like an idea of a tv is a box with knobs even though tvs have not had that since the 50s.

They have a concept that a child is living at home and for business purposes the parent/parents decide to leave for months to years at a time. They leave the child to live home alone and just wire them money. Meaning the child must walk to school, shop, and do everything for themselves.

The children in these scenarios usually are 13-17 years of age. I mainly see it in Japanese media but more recently have been seeing this concept in other countries media. Is this normal, legal, possible and does it ever really happen?

I see it a lot so am not sure if its just a made up concept or it has really happened before. I know that some parents have other types of family. Like some live with an older sibling instead of parents or with grandparents not real parents.

This seems like a strange concept to me since I grew up and children all had at least one guardian. I am wondering where this idea came from.

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19% Normal
Based on 36 votes (7 yes)
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Comments ( 5 )
  • dom180
    10 years ago

    I suspect that this image is quite common in media because it gives the kids unlimited freedom, ability to have their own adventures and story-lines free from the shackles of adulthood and society etc. It also gives the writers a lot more creative freedom to avoid having to write about adults when they're not the main centre of the show.

    I suspect it does happen in real life, especially when it's only one parent who goes away. My mum used to go away for over two weeks on business sometimes, but my dad was always there. I don't imagine both parents going away without at least having a babysitter is legal in my country.

    In fact, I've just Googled it and leaving children alone is an offence if it "places them at risk", but the exact terms of the law aren't defined so what constitutes being "placed at risk" is completely open to interpretation. I would guess both parents leaving for months at a time would definitely constitute breaking the law though. https://www.gov.uk/law-on-leaving-your-child-home-alone

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      10 years ago

      Well that says children can not be left overnight if 16 and under. So in most of these scenarios it would defiantly be illegal. Also you being cared for by your dad is still adult supervision. So he was serving as your guardian. The scenario I speak about means zero supervision and no guardians what so ever.

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  • SkullsNBones
    10 years ago

    Could you give some specific examples of these sorts of films? The only one that springs to my mind is Home Alone, where the child being alone is portrayed as simultaneously dangerous and hilarious and the implication is that such a scenario would not occur in real life.

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    • cokopoof
      10 years ago

      Durarara is an anime where the kid is like 16-17 i think and he moves to Tokyo on his own and lives alone in an apartment.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      10 years ago

      No that one they left the kid alone by accident. They did not do it on purpose. Going for business and wiring money means the parents KNOW what they are doing. Forgetting the child when they go on a trip was simply an accident. Every home alone movie he gets separated by accident and his parents go through hell trying to get him back. I will name one anime "Shuffle".

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