Carmen Hall: I've left my kids home alone and they survived

You could be breaking the law if you leave a child aged under 14 home alone. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

I believe not being able to leave children aged under 14 home alone is ridiculous - especially when they are are close to that age or have enough emotional maturity.

I admit that when my children were 12 or 13 years old, I did not see the harm leaving them alone at home for an hour or two at a time.

This may have been after school or if I had to go to the shops to pick up something and they didn't want to come.

They would be left with a cellphone and told to lock the doors and not open it to strangers. At that age, they were past the fascination of lighting matches or getting into any trouble that would put them in harm's way.

None were even slightly interested in cooking so it was safe to say the house wouldn't get burned down.

Because my children are years apart, it was a true home-alone scenario -- so that eliminated the possibility of them inflicting serious injuries on each other.

So in my view, if children are mature enough at that age, I see no harm in it.

I was left alone when I was a child and pushed out the door in the weekends to swim in the river, build huts and ride bikes and ponies with my mates until tea time. I never came to any harm.

But there is big difference to home alone and neglect.

As this newspaper has reported, welfare concerns were the main reason Bay of Plenty police took action against more than 70 people in the region for leaving children unsupervised in the past five years.

New Zealand police community partnerships and prevention acting director Inspector Natasha Allan says a number of risks are associated with neglecting children.

"These can include the potential for children to be exposed to hazards that put their safety at risk, inability to access food or toileting requirements and the likelihood that some children might experience anxiety or fear when left alone."

I agree - neglecting children and leaving those unable to properly look after themselves at home alone is not acceptable.

But there also needs to be some common sense.

In my view, it depends on the child - not so much their age.