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Would you leave your kids home alone?

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In the news this weekend there was a story about two young children who were left home alone in Perth while their parents went overseas.

According to The Guardian the Western Australian police found the 4-year-old and 6-year-old at a property on Wednesday last week and discovered they had been left alone since Tuesday.

“It will be alleged both parents were overseas at the time the officers entered the property,” police said. “The children were subsequently removed from the property and placed into appropriate care.”

In a world of overly-cautious parents where Child Services are called on parents who allow their kids to play in their own back yards unsupervised, this really is the extreme opposite and really just child neglect.

The first time my parents left my brother and me alone while they were out of the country, I had already graduated from university and was at my first job.

Parents rarely let their kids out of their sights these days with the risk of child abduction being so high. Gone are the days where kids could be out all day and be expected to return as the sun is going down. The world has become a more insidious place.

We asked out Facebook parents “At what age would you start leaving your kids alone at home, even if it's just to pop out to the corner shop?” and here’s what they had to say:

At what age would you leave your kids at home, if you were just popping to the shop for 10 minutes? You can also send your thoughts to chatback@parent24.com

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