What Age Can You Leave Your Child Home Alone in North Dakota?
What age can you leave your child home alone? While some states have no age requirement, that's not the case in North Dakota.
Surprisingly, 34 states have no age requirement to stay home alone. According to the North Dakota Department of Human Services, a child must be at least 9 years old before he or she is left alone.
There are some additional rules. The 9-year-old child can only be left alone for two hours or less during daytime hours and cannot be responsible for the care of other children. Once the child is 10 he or she can be left alone for more than 2 hours but it must be during daylight hours. A child cannot be responsible for others until he or she is 12 years or older.
The North Dakota Department of Human Services urges parents to evaluate a few things before leaving a child alone:
- Maturity level
- Emotional Health
- Child's physical or cognitive abilities
- Length of time alone
- Time of day
Parents or caregivers are responsible for the safety, care and well-being of their children whether they are present or not.
What age do you think it's appropriate to leave your child alone? Take our poll below!