Autism: Is it okay to leave a 17-year-ols at home by themselves for two months...
Crazy Cat Lady:Former Real Estate Agent, and Office Manager.
Lives in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia1969–present
I did this.
My Mum, my daughter, and I went to the USA on holiday for 7 weeks (we live in Australia), and my son didn’t want to go for two reasons. He said ‘There’s no way I’m spending nearly 2 months in hotels with the three of you’, and, he was in his Senior year of high school and couldn’t miss that much.
So, after some discussion with him, he decided he wanted to stay home alone. There were other options, he could have stayed with friends or other family… He wanted this, and I knew he was responsible enough to manage it.
I spoke to his school Principal (who I was friends with) and asked her to keep a quiet eye on him (without his knowledge) and email me if there were any issues. I also had his uncle drop in every weekend to take him shopping, see if he needed anything else, and check in with him. He also had a couple of different houses he could have stayed at had he decided he didn’t like being on his own (and I’d already organised our dog to go to a friend’s house if he wanted to stay with someone).
All our bills came digitally, so I still paid them while away, so he didn’t have to worry about anything like that.
He did super well. The house was a little bit of a mess when we got home, but as it was more of a mess before we left, I was pretty happy. ;)
So, even though he was 17.5 years old, I ensured he had backup and people ‘checking’ on him (even if he didn’t realise it), he did extremely well. He had no issues and was up to date with all his work etc when we got home.
It may also be important to note that my son is a bit of a loner. He has Aspergers and a few other acronyms and didn’t really have any friends, so I knew he was never going to have big parties of drunk underage kids. (yes, I would have preferred him to have HAD friends in high school, but he didn’t, so it was a bit of a bonus).
Anyway, having said all this, I think it absolutely depends on the child, how responsible they are, what the likelihood of hijinx is, and whether they have a support network behind them. (Also note - you should check regulations in your area/country, where we are it is not illegal to leave a child over 16 by themselves).
We had a great time, he had a great time, and I never worried once about his behaviour or safety.