what age do you leave your kids at home/let them go out on their own?

[4mum]

with my 2 older kids its been 12,
distance/time increasing as we all get more confident with it.
how do you feel?

[Lilymaid]

From the time they went to secondary school - though with DS1 we did a few trial runs in town first (i.e. I or another mum went into town separately from them).

[cylon]

start of secondary school is what i have heard most parents do.
however, ds, aged ten, is allowed to go to the corner shop for sweets, and has walked home a few times alone. dh at home to recieve him. from september,year six, i will be sending him to and from school on hi s own. i will follow withthe younger dc, either by car, or bike, depending.
i've left him alone for up to fifteenminutes at home. wiht one excception, bu lets not talk about htat)

[Scanner]

Mine are all too young I think, oldest is just 8. Most families around here start to let them walk to school with friends in years 5/6 often with Mum turning up at school with younger sibling to check that the older one arrived safely.

However, many people will pop to the local shop to buy a pint of milk leaving younger ones for say 15 mins. I'm not sure if I'm ok with this or not.

[4mum]

have left my youngesr(8)
home with eldest(15)
for a short while,wouldent for longer as i cant trust
the older not to lose his temper with youngest-who is a
bit wild!!!!!

[Scanner]

4mum - I think that's fine, my oldest (8) thinks that I should leave her at home while I collect her sister from a school club and says her friends mums do the same. It's a 15 min round trip - I'm not sure if I should.

[cornsilk]

I let my ds(9) go round the block on his bike. I would like to leave him at home for a short while occasionally while I nipped out, but I haven't as I am unsure of the law. I think he'd be fine for 10/15 mins and would enjoy the responsibility.