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No reason sufficient for leaving child alone One of the great taboos of the daycare culture is any reasoned discussion of the impact on kids who are parked in daycare from age 6 weeks to 6 years. And now, according to a new Urban Institute study, American kids are left home alone in large numbers after age 6. According to the Urban Institute study, about 20 percent of 6- to 12-year-olds regularly are left without adult supervision after school. The issue isn't the cost of after-school care. Affluent workers reported leaving their kids alone just as much or more than lower-income workers. Young children do not belong at home alone. They need adult supervision for many reasons, not least of which is safety. Many parents truly work to make ends meet, or to at least make those ends meet at a reasonable, not lavish, level. In the 1950s, government took just 2 percent of the typical family's income in taxes, but today it grabs many times more. A large portion of working parents have been taxed into it. That, however, does not excuse leaving kids alone. It is worse still when kids are left alone simply to allow parents to drive new cars or take fancy trips. When that happens, parents demonstrate through their actions that money is more important than their own children. Whatever the causes, however, one thing is clear: It is not good for our society that 20 percent of children are left to fend for themselves after school. |
