Home alone in NJ: The age you say it’s OK to first leave your kid

We recently ran into a dilemma in our house where we were debating if we should leave one of our sons at home for about 15 minutes by himself. He and his twin brother are currently 8 years old.

They've never been left home alone before, so naturally it made us wonder if now was the right time we could start trusting them, at least in small spurts. Here's why we ultimately decided to go with it.

One of our sons got sick, which threw a monkey wrench into the plans for that day. I'm sure any of you who are parents could relate to that one.

It was a day when I had to be at the station so I couldn't be around to help out. My wife, however, was able to change her schedule to work from home.

Normally this is a day both of us would be in our offices and we'd have a sitter pick the kids up from school. Then the sitter would stick around for a few hours until either myself or my wife would get home.

However, once word got to the sitter that one of our sons was sick, they didn't want to risk getting sick themselves, which is completely understandable. But that also left us with an issue regarding who would pick up our other son from school.

After discussing it, we decided since my wife was the only option to get him that it would probably be OK if she left our other son at home for about 15 minutes alone. That would be all the time needed to get to the school and back.

Although I would've come home if I absolutely had to, my commute is an hour one way so I would've lost a lot of time. Since the kids are now 8, however, we figured they're old enough to where we can start trusting them for short periods of time at home without us.

Was it an uneasy feeling at first? Yes, especially when you hear all these stories of what could happen when a kid is left alone.

But at the same time, he was in the safety of our home and we do have security, so we weren't too worried about that. Long story short, he did just fine for that brief period.

Both our sons also know about 9-11 (they can use their tablets to call if an emergency comes up) and also have our cell numbers, which also factored into our decision. But even with that, it'll only be for brief moments like this when we're in a pinch until they get a little older.

After that, it got me thinking about the first time I was left home alone. I was also curious about what you thought, so I asked our listeners during my Sunday morning show on New Jersey 101.5.

And you responded both on our app and the phones. Essentially, I wanted to know your thoughts on what the appropriate age is to leave your kid alone for the first time in today's world, as well as when you were left behind for the first time.

And after hearing from some of you, the answer became clear. In today's world, 8 1/2 appeared to be the average age where you said it was OK in New Jersey.

That's slightly higher, however, when compared to when you told me you were first left alone. That average age came to around 7 1/2, so one year younger when compared to today's average.

What's interesting is how the age ticked up a bit over the years, despite security at homes getting better and better. Is it that we don't trust our kids the same way we once did, or is it other people we're more paranoid about?

Or could it also be the simple fact that so many of us can now work remotely that running into a situation requiring a kid to be left home alone doesn't happen quite as often? The reasoning could go in so many directions.

But 8 1/2 is what my Sunday morning listeners told me is the appropriate age to leave your kid home alone for the first time in today's world, despite their first time being left behind was 7 1/2 (we'll say both of these fall under the 7 to 8 category).

So now I'll ask you. Thinking back, how old were you the first time you were left home alone? And what's the earliest a kid can be left home alone today?

And just to note that New Jersey has no law dictating what ages you can or can't leave a child home alone. It's purely at the discretion of the parents and guardians.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.