Have you all read about this recently? A mother allowed her 12 yr old daughter and her daughter’s friend, who was also 12, to bring an 8,7, and 3 yr old children to the mall. The 3 yr old was strapped into a stroller. When the two 12 yr olds went into a dressing room to try some clothing on, mall security was called and the children detained until the police arrived and the mother. The mother was promptly arrested.
Most of the comments and news reports have been in favor of the mother and not the prosecutor.
I know personally I was babysitting at 12 years old. I don’t think that it seems young.
The website Free Range Kids has a great post on this topic.
What do you think? Is 12 too young to babysit?
I babysat at 12. but I never went anywhere like the mall with 3 little ones… just stay at their house or my parents played outside in the yard was as far as I went with them…
Comment by LeeAnn — July 24, 2009 @ 10:20 am
12 isn’t necessarily too young if it’s at home, but I don’t think I’d let them take the little ones anywhere!
Comment by Brigitte — July 24, 2009 @ 11:31 am
I was babysitting at 11 years old. It does depend on the level of maturity of a 12 year old. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. My girls when they were 12 were complelety mature enough to do it. The shocking part was the arrest. They arrested the mother? I didn’t sound like the children were in any danger.
Comment by Laura — July 24, 2009 @ 11:50 am
Silly… I’ve hired neighborhood kids to babysit my children at 12. I think it was that they took them to the mall. I wouldn’t let a babysitter take my children to the mall. If I’m shopping at the grocery store and my 5 year old needs to use the restroom I send her with her older 10 year old sister. They are able to handle that just fine so I can’t imagine why a 12 year old can’t babysit.
Comment by Cari — July 24, 2009 @ 7:17 pm
I am not sure that any child at the age of 12 should be dropped off at a mall with small children. If a 12yr old is mature enough to babysit then it should be at home. There are to many dangerous things that could happen when out in public. A 12yr old should not be responsiable for mishaps like losing a child or someone taking off with one. The mother should not have been arrested, just talked to about the situation at hand. I did not leave my young children outside a dressing room door when trying on anything, giving I was an adult. In this day and time nothing is hard to believe and should not be underestimated. I have four children and I still do not let my 8 or 10 year old stay home alone. It only takes a second, and then your life could change forever.
Comment by Serena — July 24, 2009 @ 9:59 pm
I agree, 12 is old enough to babysit at home or in a controled enviroment like a (private) picnic of familiar people but not to the mall or other completely public place.
Generally speaking; Yes, 12 yr olds can often be old enough to START babysitting but I don’t consider watching 3 young kids (1 of who, is not even old enough to be in elementary school!) at the mall to be a “beginning” responsibility. That’s a more advanced “task”, for older kids who are more experienced, more mature and less self-centered.
Just the fact that the two 12yr olds went into dressing rooms, leaving their charges alone in public, shows they are not ready for “babysitting at the mall”. That was bad judgement on their part.
That’s not to say that NO 12 yr olds are ever mature enough…”never say never”.
I guess that mom THOUGHT the girls were mature enough…but they were not.
Mistake on the mom’s part, mistake on the babysitters’ part…thank goodness “the worse” didn’t happen.
Comment by Anonymous — July 25, 2009 @ 10:36 am
I agree with the above that in a controlled situation, a 12 year old may be old enough. But I don’ think a mall is a great idea and them leaving the kids outside the dressing room shows that. However, arresting the mother was silly. Poor judgement maybe, but not criminal. But I’ve seen crazier.
Comment by Lucinda — July 26, 2009 @ 12:33 am
I baby-sat in our neighborhood at 12, at 13 I baby-sat wherever I was hired. My aunt & uncle hired me to go on a week-end trip (convention) to Cape May (my four boy cousins were 8, 6, 4, 2 & Pam had not arrived yet). They were preparing to go out for dinner & dancing and decided that maybe I wasn’t old enough to handle the responsibility – through an agency they hired a sitter who was……. 13 years old! I will admit that the four boys were a handful – we had to feed them, bathe them and get them to bed – the extra help was quite welcome.
Comment by Kathy from NJ — July 26, 2009 @ 12:03 pm
I don’t believe children should be babysitting children unless adult supervised. Your babysitter should be able to drive, make good decisions, and cook. Think about it hard before you just leave a twelve year old with your three year old. What if something really happened. That 12 is not old enough to make emergency decisions. You are the parent and know the limits but please think it through.
Comment by Angela — July 27, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
12 isn’t necessarily too young to babysit at home but it is absolutely ridiculous to allow a 12 yr old to take young children to the mall. The girl proved she wasn’t responsible enough by leaving the 3yr old outside the changing room!
Comment by Arwen — July 27, 2009 @ 11:14 pm
I would say that as long as you stay at the residence with the children 12 yrs is fine but frankly I can’t see a 12yr old shopping at the mall without an adult in the first place.
Comment by Lain — August 9, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
12 is not to young to babysit but i think to be babysitting at the mall was a problem
Comment by tammy — August 11, 2009 @ 7:39 am
I have girls ages 8,6,4,and 2 and our neighbor is 12 and she babysits them weekly sence she was eleven. Personally I think that as long as she stays at our house that its fine.
Comment by Beth Kaghman — August 11, 2009 @ 9:55 am