Wood County, Wis. (WAOW) — As parents continue to head into work, some kids will soon have to spend time at home alone e-learning.
While there’s no certain age that a child can legally be left alone, there are things parent’s should consider. Officials say the most important is the child’s maturity and ability to take care of themselves.
This includes knowing how to use appliances in the kitchen.
“The stove, make sure they know how to use it safely and properly,” said lead officer Landon Kramer of the Marshfield Police Department.
Make sure your kids know how to protect themselves from strangers when home alone. This includes not opening the door to anyone the child doesn’t know, or giving out personal information on the phone to anyone the child doesn’t know.
In case of an emergency, make sure your child knows it’s okay to call 911.
“Emergency services would prefer that 911 is called and maybe it’s not an emergency and that’s ok, the child thought it was and we would rather have that happen once than they don’t call right away when they should,” said Joe Zurfluh, Investigative Sergeant at the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.
Finally, parents should remember that while it’s important that they believe their child is ready to stay home alone, it’s also important for the child to feel ready too.
“Just because they might be of a certain age, of a certain maturity, if it’s a situation where they’re just not comfortable being left alone then they should not be left alone,” said Zurfluh.
For more information and resources, click here.