I was 13, almost 14 when I first stayed home alone. My sister was 12, and my brother was 11. I was the oldest, that’s why I had to wait the longest.
Funny this thread should come along now…I left my twelve-year-old daughter home alone yesterday for the first time. She had a cold and I needed to work. My mother and I called her so many times she probably didn’t get much rest! By the way, I would never have left her home with her brother (he’s seven).
I’d say it depends on the kid. My oldest daughter was about 9 or so when she first started staying at home by herself (she’s in college now), and when my younger daughter was in kindergarten (half a day), she’d walk the two blocks home and let herself in the backdoor until her dad would come home from work about an hour later. The neighborhood was safe and there was an older couple across the street if she needed anything during that hour. By the time Barney was over on television, Dad was home.
Fast forward almost 15 years on down the road to my son, who is almost 10. He looks forward to time spent at home by himself (which translates into he gets to watch anything he wants on television,and doesnt’ have to share the computer). The kid is incredibly responsible and has a no nonsense approach to life in almost all areas–on the weekends, when he gets to stay up an hour later than usual, it’s HIM who is in bed, with lights out exactally on time–usally before I even realize what time it is. The worst thing I have to worry about is coming home and seeing no food left in my kitchen. (His appetite is equal to a hummingbirds, and he eats non stop.) He’s clear on the rules (don’t answer the door, no cooking except popcorn in the microwave, no cutting food with knives, etc.), and I’m reachable by cell phone all the time. We also have the rules posted on the frig, along with my cell number (even though he knows it by heart) and a few other emergency contact numbers, including his sister’s cell numbers. He’s done great, and although I may leave him for a few hours during the daytime by himself, I call about every hour or so to check in.
One word of advice: Hide the liquor before you leave your sons at home by themselves. I learned this the hard way. 
I actually think it depends a lot on your home & neightbors, as well as the child.
My parents left me alone for brief periods at 9 or 10, and by 12 I was babysitting. However, my neighbors were five feet across the alley with thier windows facing ours. If I yelled, Mrs. Scalia would come to my aid. (She’d also tell my mom if I had people over. There’s no privacy in a row house). If I got scared, I could go knock on her door.
The house my parents live in now, however, is well out of shouting distance of the neighbors, and the lot is wooded. My sister is 18, learning disabled and possibly somewhat autistic, and can’t be left alone at night. My parents want to go on vacation, and they have to fly her out here to stay with me.
I agree and I learned it the easy way, as a son. 
I would also make sure that if something happens to the older child, can the younger one deal with it?
Beginning at 10 we’d allow the girls to be home when I’d make a quick trip to the store. Now that the oldest is 12 we feel comfortable leaving them for several hours during the day. Still don’t like to leave them at night, but will probably be ready for that by summer. Oldest is very responsible.
Just make sure the kids know basic safety. No answering the door. Leave the house IMMEDIATELY if there is a fire. Don’t cook, etc., etc.
Well, here’s a horror story for you. The first time my (older) brother and I were left home alone for an extended period of time, he managed to put his arm through a glass window. We had been fighting about something stupid, and I managed to get away. I ran outside and slammed the door behind me, just as my brother was reaching for me. crash After I realized my brother might actually be hurt and not just pretending so I would go help him and he could kick me in the nads or something, we both freaked out for a couple minutes. Then we realized that there was a lot of blood around, and our father was going to be pissed if we made a mess of the house, so we started cleaning up, dressed the huge gash in his arm, and then wandered over to the neighbor’s house to see what we should do next. She panicked and called our mother.
Mom was in a meeting when a friend of hers came running into the room screaming, “Come quick!! Something terrible has happened to your children!!” After recovering from her heart attack, my mom sped home to find me franticly cleaning blood off the floor so we wouldn’t get in trouble, and my brother (still bleeding) trying to put a new storm window in so no one would know that we broke anything. We were nervous kids. Seven stitches later, everything basically returned to normal.
Amazingly enough, my parents continued to let us stay home by ourselves. They figured we had used up “all our stupidness” in our first attempt. If only we had…
All good advice, not much to add, having seen all the posts about neighbors, etc. But, wanted to share my cousins’ story (since I’m an only child, but also legally blind, it was later for me - 12 or 13 - I now live on my own, though)
Twin cousins were the oldest of 5, a boy and a girl. Girl was much more respnosible and an authority figure of sorts, while the boy was…well, responsible, but he’d let the younger ones get away with too much, playing around with them.
Their parents being a doctor and an at-home mom but former nurse, they had lots of talks about safety fromw hen they were wee little. One the twins were about 10 or so they were allowed at home watching the younger ones, but the girl was in charge, technically, since she was the one who’d lay down the law. She even had to send the youngest boy to his room a few times, and he listened; he was Dennis the Menace’s twin 
The middle boy was pretty good, though, so it wasn’t much problem.
By the time they were 11, child number 5 (and the last) was born. With the kids 11.5, 11.5, 8.5, 5 and 4 months, Hurricane Bob swept in near they in South Carolina. The family had driven down, though. If it had come just a little earlier to where they were on vacation, their parents were ready to send the five on an airplane by themselves back home to Ohio while they drove back, braving he rain and possible really bad roads after packing (they would have driven them toa nearby airport where the last flights were leaving; as a doctor the dad would have been able to buy tickets, and one of the set of grandparents could have been at the airport.)
It didn’t happen, they all went back the same way, in the huge family van since they did have a little time to prepare (it wound up bouncing up the coast instead of coming inland at Myrtle Beach), but that just goes to show that constantly talking with your children - not in an alarming way, but just going over situations and what can happen and how to prepare - really does pay off. I’ve no doubt that if they’d had to, the girl would have taken the lead quite well, the twin boy would have been responsible enough to handle any pressure, the middle boy would have followed orders well, and they could have kept the 5YO in line and baby occupied well enough that it would have gone off without a hitch.
When I was 10 my parents put me in charge of my younger brother (4 1/2) and sister (7) when we were flying alone on an airplane from Lexington, KY to Jacksonville, Florida. I think that would be illegal nowadays but we managed. I do remember being scared that my little brother might say “Hi, Jack!” and that we would all get thrown out at the Atlanta airport, but I was a very bossy big sister and he knew to keep his mouth shut.
From the age of 12 on up I was allowed to babysit my younger brother and sister as well as other neighborhood children. I guess it depends on the child and how mature she is, as well as the laws in your state.
This just reminded me so vividly of my childhood I couldn’t stop giggling for a while. It’s funny 'cause it’s true!
In Illinois, the law states a kid must be 12 before they can legally be left alone. My roommate left her two kids home at the ages of 5 and 8, and they came home from school to find the door was opened (one of us left it open). Thinking there was a bad guy in the house, the older one freaked out, grabbed every knife in the house, and ran screaming down the road. The neighbors called the cops, and the cops told my roommate he’d let it slide, but that she could have been charged with child endangerment.
On the other hand, there’s my 10-year-old niece who wouldn’t even consider doing anything bad. Ever. A regular goody-two-shoes. She just started staying home after school. She actually does homework after school. No cartoons, no screwing around.
My son is 27 and I still have reservations about letting him out of my site ;).