nanny state

CorNokZ

Currently a stay at home dad
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Messages
19,779
An older brother or sister can take care of their younger sisters. When you feel like the oldest can take care of him/herself, then they can probably look after a younger brother or sister as well. Of course leaving them for a longer period of time is not accepted..
 

Cerb

I am a FH squatter
Joined
Jun 18, 2005
Messages
5,033
I read this wrong at first. I read 14 Month old looked after by his 3 year old brother. And though, well that is abit young. 14 year old looking after a 3 year old is perfectly fine though. Ridiculous.
 

DaGaffer

Down With That Sorta Thing
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Messages
18,397
Absolutely fucking ridiculous. The mother should be in the position to make a judgement about the 14 year old. I babysat when I was under 16 (I still have the mental scars from babysitting THE TWO MOST EVIL CHILDREN IN THE WORLD!!!!!! when I was about 15).

Interesting with how this squares with the episode of Big Fat Gypsy Wedding I watched the other night where it showed how the girls are taken out of school at around the age of 13 to look after their younger siblings pretty much full time...
 

rynnor

Rockhound
Moderator
Joined
Dec 26, 2003
Messages
9,353
She shouldnt have accepted the police caution and made em charge her with something - the CPS would never have continued and were they stupid enough to she could never lose - 14years is fine imho.

Edit - you can legally be employed at 14 so it sounds fine to me.
 

Zenith.UK

Part of the furniture
Joined
Dec 20, 2008
Messages
2,913
*I* would be prepared to let my eldest look after my middle one, but I'm not sure about looking after my youngest one as well.
11, 4, 2

It's all utterly ridiculous.
I walked home 1.4 miles from school to home when I was 6. I also had a yale key to get in. Yes, I was a latchkey kid (late 70's).

I used to walk from my primary school to the local swimming pool every school day from age 8 till 11. It was cheaper than childcare for my mum and she knew where I was with other people around.

By the time I was 11, I was able to look after myself for the whole day through the summer holidays.


Putting this in context to the OP, they're saying a 14 yr old boy isn't capable of looking after his own brother/sister for half an hour while mum pops to the shops. He isn't CULPABLE for their welfare (his mum still is), but he's CAPABLE of the responsibility of looking after them for a short time.

So by the same rule applied in this case, a 14 yr old single mum isn't capable of looking after her child herself. If the law/rules/regulations were applied evenly, all teenage mothers under 16 would not be legally responsible for their own children and would require an adult chaperone at all times. It's complete insanity.
 

Mey

Part of the furniture
Joined
Apr 9, 2005
Messages
4,252
There is clearly more to this story than we are being told.
 

old.Tohtori

FH is my second home
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Messages
45,210
If there's no special thing hidden in that story, i'll go with;

Silly pampering, end of.
 

Lamp

Gold Star Holder!!
Joined
Jan 16, 2005
Messages
22,950
on the face of it & imo a 14 year old is more than capable of looking after a 3 yr old for 30 minutes as a one off

but if the woman's being done, there maybe something else we're not getting told (could just be vindictive neighbours, or could be some history here)
 

Gwadien

Uneducated Northern Cretin
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
Messages
19,842
I baby sat, last year, when I was 16, two kids, Played on the PS3 for 4 hours, and made £10, Get in.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom