Latchkey kid
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Latchkey kid or Latchkey child refers to a child that returns from school to an empty home because their parents are away at work, or a child that is often left at home with little or no parental supervision.
The term refers to the latchkey of a door to the house. The key is often strung around the child's neck or left hidden under a mat (or some other object) at the rear door to the property. The term is claimed to have originated from an NBC documentary in 1944, due to the phenomena of children being left home alone becoming common during and after World War II., when one parent would be enlisted into the armed forces, so the other would get a job.
In the United States, a 2002 Census survey reported 6.8 million (15%) of all children between the ages of 5 and 14 come home to an empty home an average of 6.3 hours per week and 65% of those children spent between 2-9 hours home alone. White non-Hispanic children are more likely to be left home alone than children of other races.
The effects of being a latchkey child differ with age. Loneliness, boredom and fear are most common for those younger than 10 years of age. In the early teens, there is a greater susceptibility to peer pressure resulting in alcohol abuse, smoking and sexual experimentation.
Socioeconomic status and length of time left alone can bring forth other negative effects. In one study, middle school students left home alone for more than three hours a day reported higher levels of behavioral problems, higher rates of depression and lower levels of self-esteem than other students.
Children from lower income families are associated with greater externalizing problems (such as conduct disorders and hyperactivity) and academic problems, while children from middle and upper income families are no different than their supervised peers. In 2000, a German PISA study found no significant differences in the scholastic performance between "latchkey kids" and kids in a "nuclear family".[link]
Positive effects of being a latchkey child include independence and self-reliance. In some cases, being left home alone may be a better alternative to staying with baby-sitters or older siblings.
The legality of the latchkey children's "alone time" varies with country, state and local area. Laws in different areas describe when children are legally allowed to be left "home alone".
Ted Rall's Generation X manifesto, which argued that young adults would succeed despite neglected childhoods, had the tongue-in-cheek title "Revenge of the Latchkey Kids" (1998).
References
External links
- [Josie Barnard talks about how it felt to be a latchkey kid], on BBC Radio 4's Home Truths programme.
- [Debate about the need for high quality childcare in the UK]
- [American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: "Home Alone Children"]
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