TuscMoms.com

Studies show that many parents leave their tweens (age 11-13) home alone, but are not confident the tweens can handle it.

Do you think tweens are too young to be left home alone?

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_65794.html

I think it depends on the kid. I was already babysitting for other people's kids by the time I was 11 and 12, and I was very very responsible.

My nephew, on the other hand, is 12 and my brother and sister in law would never consider leaving him alone with his almost 5 year old brother. He is just not nearly mature or responsible enough.

I agree with Moozle that it depends on the child and that some children are very responsible at that age. When I was 12 my brother (age 10) and I were home alone for 1 hour after school and we never had any problems. We had strict rules that we had to stay in the house, have a snack and do our homework. We had a list of emergency phone numbers and a few trusted neighbors that we were to call if something happened.