A mum went on social media to ask if it was ok to leave a nine-year-old child in a cafe alone for an hour - and was told "it’s a cafe, not a crèche".
The parent asked the question on Mumsnet, under a thread titled "At what age would you leave a child alone in a cafe for an hour?" And scores of people responded with their opinions.
The woman said: "DD (dear daughter) is nearly 9. Lately she has been asking to stay home sometimes when we are heading out as a family so she can read or draw.
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"I'm not comfortable with that but I do feel sort of, but not entirely, comfortable with the idea of leaving her in an on-site cafe e.g. National Trust cafe while the rest of the family walks around one of the trails. She could have either my or DH's (dear husband's) phone - she wouldn't take the p*** and would only use it if there was some sort of emergency. I don't think she is quite old enough yet but I was wondering what age people would think it was ok to do this?"
The response was emphatic, with the majority of parents saying that nine was too young to leave a child on their own in a cafe. One said: "Not a chance," while another wrote: "Way too young. Why doesn't she wasn't to go with you?"
Another parent pointed out the potential problems with the idea and commented: "Would she know what to do in case of emergency? If the fire alarms went off would she know what to do? It would be very unfair on others if they end up having to look out for her. I think at 9 she should be going with the family plans."
Another mum wrote: "It’s a cafe, not a crèche. Not sure how they would feel having a table taken by an unsupervised child when they could be having paying customers use it."
And one Mumsnet user added: "No I wouldn't leave a 9 year old alone in a café for an hour. If it gets busy and someone asks her to move, she might not be equipped to deal with a response to that.
"If she nips to the loo, comes back and there aren't any seats left she might get panicked. Cafés can get busy and a bit overwhelming for a solo 9 year old."
A number of people said it may be ok to leave a child alone if they are of secondary school age, while others suggested it would be safer to leave them at home, though admitted that nine was still too young.
One said: "To be honest I think a child that age would be safer at home for an hour than sitting in a public cafe alone. I wouldn’t leave her though, not until about 11-ish. Is there any reason why she doesn’t want to join? Do you overload the weekends with NT visits/days out and she needs more time to just chill at home?"
And another commented: "If you go out somewhere as a family trip then she absoloutley should come with you. I've no idea why you think a public cafe is safer than your (locked) home? Whether she should be left home alone is another matter - at 8yo I'd say at a push 10mins while you nip to the nearest shop. At 8,9,10, they come along on family trips out and join in."
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