· The news that a mother has been cautioned by police for leaving her 14 year-old son to look after his baby brother for half and hour has shocked me.
During the 30 minutes the mother was away, there was no incident and the baby was never in any danger during that time. Neither is there a law to state how old a child needs to be in order to be left home alone. And yet this anonymous parent has been officially cautioned by over-zealous police, who were probably bored on a routine patrol.
In my opinion it should be up to the parent to decide if the teenager is old enough and mature enough to look after his sibling, not the authorities. The mother probably only nipped to the shops, only to come home with more than she bargained for.
It is a pretty sad state of affairs if sad bureaucratic officials say a mature minded young adult cannot be left in charge of the house for a small amount of time. Children cannot be wrapped in cotton wool for all of their lives. They must be given freedom and responsibility so they can grow up maturely.
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