Babysitting and The Cotton Wool Generation

[RHYDAL]

If there was a fire could you have dealt with it as well as you would have done were you 16? Plus, i'm guessing you babysitting at the age of 12 was a few years ago when it was more acceptable - society and standards have moved on.

My kids know that in the event of a fire they raise the alarm and get out of the house by any means possible. How does age change that? They are 12 and 14 and both bigger than the wife.

On the rare ocassions they are left alone in the house they are told to stay indoors and let the dog answer the door. I do not advocate leaving children alone regularly, but I wouldn't be anal about it either.

Whatever happened to the use of common sense?

 

[fitz]

My kids know that in the event of a fire they raise the alarm and get out of the house by any means possible. How does age change that? They are 12 and 14 and both bigger than the wife.

On the rare ocassions they are left alone in the house they are told to stay indoors and let the dog answer the door. I do not advocate leaving children alone regularly, but I wouldn't be anal about it either.

Whatever happened to the use of common sense?

Media driven hysteria happened. Everyone is raving about the prevets.

 

[camberwell fox]

My kids know that in the event of a fire they raise the alarm and get out of the house by any means possible. How does age change that? They are 12 and 14 and both bigger than the wife.

On the rare ocassions they are left alone in the house they are told to stay indoors and let the dog answer the door. I do not advocate leaving children alone regularly, but I wouldn't be anal about it either.

Whatever happened to the use of common sense?

They are bound to be bigger than your wife :icon_wink I really feel a bit uncomfortable in going into this in too much detail as i feel it *could* be seen as personal and who am i to tell someone else how to bring up their kids?

Having said that i stick to my 16 opinion.

 

[homer]

My kids know that in the event of a fire they raise the alarm and get out of the house by any means possible. How does age change that? They are 12 and 14 and both bigger than the wife.

On the rare ocassions they are left alone in the house they are told to stay indoors and let the dog answer the door. I do not advocate leaving children alone regularly, but I wouldn't be anal about it either.

Whatever happened to the use of common sense?

I don't dispute that children of that age are more than capable of being left alone, under clear instructions/rules etc.

But that doesn't apply to looking after a three year old child.

If you have children, then you should accept the burden of looking after them properly until they have reached a reasonable age of responsibility - not leave them with other siblings whilst you feck off down the shops

 

[camberwell fox]

I don't dispute that children of that age are more than capable of being left alone, under clear instructions/rules etc.

But that doesn't apply to looking after a three year old child.

If you have children, then you should accept the burden of looking after them properly until they have reached a reasonable age of responsibility - not leave them with other siblings whilst you feck off down the shops

Oh god twice in one thread...

 

[Cate Fox]

Media driven hysteria happened. Everyone is raving about the prevets.

The what? :icon_lol:

 

[RHYDAL]

They are bound to be bigger than your wife :icon_wink I really feel a bit uncomfortable in going into this in too much detail as i feel it *could* be seen as personal and who am i to tell someone else how to bring up their kids?

Having said that i stick to my 16 opinion.

I don't dispute that children of that age are more than capable of being left alone, under clear instructions/rules etc.

But that doesn't apply to looking after a three year old child.

If you have children, then you should accept the burden of looking after them properly until they have reached a reasonable age of responsibility - not leave them with other siblings whilst you feck off down the shops

I think the thing that would stop most responsible parents leaving a child alone with effectively another minor, is not so much whether the child was capable of watching the other, as many children grow up in big families having learnt the parenting skills necessary to deal with most eventuallities.

It's more the fear of the guilt they'd have to deal with having not been there if the worst happened. Does that make sense?

 

[homer]

It's more the fear of the guilt they'd have to deal with having not been there if the worst happened. Does that make sense?

Yes - plus the future never ending guilt of the poor child who had been asked to look after the three year

 

[fitz]

The what? :icon_lol:

Prevets, it's a word invented by nutjobs on facebook which I believe means nonce. I've had loads of invites to join groups about "kill the prevets" "Ian Huntley should be sentenced to death, the prevet" etc.

 

[RHYDAL]

Prevets, it's a word invented by nutjobs on facebook which I believe means nonce. I've had loads of invites to join groups about "kill the prevets" "Ian Huntley should be sentenced to death, the prevet" etc.

It's a perversion of perverts. Bit like a murder of crows.

 

[Willlow]

My kids know that in the event of a fire they raise the alarm and get out of the house by any means possible. How does age change that? They are 12 and 14 and both bigger than the wife.

On the rare ocassions they are left alone in the house they are told to stay indoors and let the dog answer the door. I do not advocate leaving children alone regularly, but I wouldn't be anal about it either.

Whatever happened to the use of common sense?

If you kids are bigger than your wife and more than capable of looking after themselves if there is a fire why can't they answer the door?

 

[Willlow]

I don't dispute that children of that age are more than capable of being left alone, under clear instructions/rules etc.

But that doesn't apply to looking after a three year old child.

If you have children, then you should accept the burden of looking after them properly until they have reached a reasonable age of responsibility - not leave them with other siblings whilst you feck off down the shops

 

[four king power]

If you kids are bigger than your wife and more than capable of looking after themselves if there is a fire why can't they answer the door?

Im more interested the door answering dog!

 

[MKFox]

Im more interested the door answering dog!

you sicken me, pop a bit of bonio of your bell and stick it through the letter box for a dog nosh....dreadful

 

[four king power]

you sicken me, pop a bit of bonio of your bell and stick it through the letter box for a dog nosh....dreadful

A bit of bonio!? Amature, I find the jelly based meat pouches get a more enhanced nosh.

 

[Mawsley]

The whole thing is a load of shit. Slow news week?

Thank **** that Supergran can bring some badly needed gravitas to the evening news.

 

[Leesoh]

Not wishing to upset anyone or be rude...there has to be a line in the sand so to speak and in my opinion it should be 16.

What is it about that one day difference that makes a child of 15yrs 364 days old incapable of looking after kids but a child of 16yrs can?

As has been mentioned on here, there are mothers that are younger than 16yrs - would you take all of their babies from them on the off-chance that they might be alone with them?

Setting an age limit is difficult - different kids develop at different rates. When it comes to certain decision making processes, the authorities and courts rely on Gillick competency - surely this could be applied with teens looking after siblings, babysitting etc?

If there was a fire could you have dealt with it as well as you would have done were you 16?

Yes, yes I would have done. Otherwise my parents would never have left me alone with my siblings, or I wouldn't have had my babysitting job.

Plus, i'm guessing you babysitting at the age of 12 was a few years ago when it was more acceptable - society and standards have moved on.

If society and standards have moved on, surely today's teenagers should be more mature, competent, and capable of looking after younger children.

Or are you suggesting the average modern day 12yr old has been molly-coddled to the point that they cannot be left to do anything without adult supervision?

and where are they buried?:icon_lol:

I'll tell you this, one of the families that I babysat for, the kids benefited from having me or my mates looking after them; the mother was a total fruit loop! I ended up having to phone Social Services (yes, that's right camberwell fox, a 15yr old phoning up the authorities because she thought that children were in danger from their own mother).

 

[spionfox]

I'll tell you this, one of the families that I babysat for, the kids benefited from having me or my mates looking after them; the mother was a total fruit loop! I ended up having to phone Social Services (yes, that's right camberwell fox, a 15yr old phoning up the authorities because she thought that children were in danger from their own mother).

I bet she never employed you again :icon_bigg

 

[Leesoh]

I bet she never employed you again :icon_bigg

:icon_bigg

I'd already left by that point.

 

[Mawsley]

What is all this bollocks about houses burning down anyway?

Have we had a sudden rush of teens & tots being killed in infernos? Have we shite.

It's specious, I tells ya.