Parental supervision is one of the most basic behaviors parents use to protect their children and is an essential element of childhood injury prevention (Mack et al.,
2008
; Petrass et al.,
2009
; Saluja et al.,
2004
; Morrongiello & Schell,
2010
; Peterson et al.,
1993
). Fatality studies have found that over 40% of maltreatment and pediatric injury-related deaths are associated with inadequate supervision (Damashek et al.,
2014
; Landen et al.,
2003
). In fact, child neglect is by far the most common reason for referrals to U.S. child protection agencies (Department of Health and Human Services. Administration on Children, Youth and Families,
2017
), and in Canada, supervisory neglect was the primary concern in almost one-half of substantiated child neglect and maltreatment cases (Ruiz-Casares et al.,
2012
).
Despite the importance of parental supervision and its protective effect against injury, there are no generally accepted standards that definitively establish appropriate levels of supervision as children develop. The child neglect literature, including that related to children being left home alone, is highly limited. One study published in 1993 by Peterson et al. surveyed mothers of 8?9?year old children, child protection service workers, and medical personnel (primarily primary care providers) (Peterson et al.,
1993
). The focus of the study was to assess the participants’ beliefs on what constitutes appropriate parental supervision for children up to 10?years of age in a number of situations with varying levels of risk. They found that respondents across groups generally agreed that children should be left unsupervised for decreasing amounts of time as risk increased, and allowed for increasing amounts of unsupervised time as child age increased. However, the amount of time respondents stated children could be left unsupervised varied significantly especially for the older ages in the study, with some participants being extremely cautious and other outliers with recommendations that might be interpreted by some as reckless. Nonetheless, the study stated that the caregiver in the scenarios was only out of visual and auditory contact, not completely out of the vicinity of the child as is the case with children left home alone.
Leaving a child at home alone means the complete absence of parental supervision. So the question becomes at what age do children reach a level of readiness in cognitive maturity to safely be at home by themselves? Addressing this question requires careful assessment of a number of factors including the child’s behavioral and emotional make-up and their level of executive functioning, e.g. to process information, problem solve, focus attention and control impulses. Many of these frontal lobe functions do not develop until late childhood and may not be fully developed until the mid-20s (Johnson et al.,
2009
; Tau & Peterson,
2010
).
Studies have shown that parents may overestimate their children’s abilities like self-care and impulse control, and knowledge, for example knowing and following through with safety rules (Morrongiello & Schell,
2010
; Peterson et al.,
1993
; Schwebel & Bounds,
2003
; Connor & Wesolowski,
2003
; Farah et al.,
1999
; Hardy,
2002
; Hardy,
2003
; Jackman et al.,
2001
). Unrealistic parental expectations may be associated with both child neglect and injury (Morrongiello & Schell,
2010
; Azar et al.,
1984
; Azar et al.,
2012
; Bugental & Happaney,
2004
). Also, a child’s decision-making differs substantially from that of adults and can be illustrated by something as routine, yet potentially dangerous, as crossing an intersection on a bicycle (Chihak et al.,
2014
; Grechkin et al.,
2013
; Plumert & Kearney,
2014a
; Plumert & Kearney,
2014b
). Studies have shown that children and adults choose the same size gaps to cross, but children take longer to initiate the crossing causing them to have significantly smaller margins of safety compared to their adult counterparts (Chihak et al.,
2014
). Thus, children’s delayed cognitive decision-making places them at greater risk than adults when crossing a road. Other factors that should be considered for determining when children can be left home alone would include the length of time the child is to be left alone, whether they will be left alone during a mealtime, how often they will be left alone, whether other children will be allowed to be present, and the child’s ability to respond to an emergency situation (Korioth,
2012
).
Child abuse and neglect experts are trained to consider the development and maturity of a child when reviewing a case of potential child neglect. We chose to survey experts in the Child Abuse and Neglect section of the American Academy of Pediatrics. It was our hope that by surveying these experts on what ages and situations constitutes child neglect, we would be able to more accurately define neglect with regards to children being left home alone and provide data that could be used to draft more effective laws and regulations and guide parents in safer child rearing practices.
Our study showed that these child abuse and neglect experts were in fairly strong agreement that leaving children 8?years of age and younger home alone for 4 h was child neglect regardless of existing laws and whether the child was injured. On the other hand, some respondent’s appeared to be influenced by the presence of a “home alone” law, as well as by injury to the child, for ages 8?years and above. This variability is of concern since the risk to the child was not different between the scenario conditions. Our data clearly suggests the need for standardized laws to ensure consistent determinations of child neglect across states. Such laws with consistent enforcement could in turn help prevent deaths and injuries and other negative consequences associated with children being left home alone. As a starting point for discussion, the vast majority of experts (85%) indicated that it should illegal to leave a child at home alone for 4 h if they were less than 9?years of age.
Limitations
The study was limited to child abuse and neglect experts who were members of AAP SOCAN and may not be generalizable to other populations. It is also possible that some selection bias may have resulted from incomplete membership participation. However, because the demographics provided by the AAP (sex, professional degree and region) were not significantly different for the full membership and the survey respondents, it seems likely that the results reflect the membership as a whole. In our study, chronological age was used as a proxy for the child’s level of development and their acquisition of skills and cognitive maturity to provide self-care and safety. For all of our scenario conditions, we emphasized that the child was physically and developmentally normal for their age, with no behavioral problems. While respondents might differ in how they interpret these criteria, it seems reasonable to assume that overall, respondents will associate increased age and normal development with less need for supervision, more impulse control, and a general increase in skills and abilities that will allow them to be left at home alone with relative safety. In addition, whereas each child expert provided their determination for hypothetical scenarios, it is unclear as to whether their actions in the field evaluating actual cases would reflect their survey responses.