It's important to teach your kids home safety tips when they will be home alone for any period of time. During the school year, many latch key kids will return to empty homes each day after classes. It's estimated that there are more than 14 million latch key kinds in the US, due to an increasing number of parents who must work long hours to make end meet.
Many of the older kids are also responsible for caring for their younger siblings during the day. It can be a tough decision for parents to make on whether their kids are able to fend for themselves at home alone. In general, it's recommended that no children under the age of 12 should be left at home alone and that kids should be at least 15 before they're allowed to care for younger siblings.