Things To Know Concerning Latchkey Children

Publié par Unknown on lundi 3 octobre 2016

By Carol Thomas


The term latchkey kid refers to children who return from school to empty houses because of various circumstances. Such circumstances include divorced parents, extended working hours or death of parents. These kids are usually left home alone with little guardian supervision. The phenomenon of Latchkey children originated from World War 2 when kids were often left alone at home while their parents went to war.

It is perceived that the kids who come from the less fortunate families spend more time alone, but in real sense it is the rich kids that spend most time alone. Research shows that it is because rich parents perceive and believe their neighborhoods as safe places to leave their kids alone without supervision.

Over the recent years the U. S government has struggled to reduce the growing rate of the numbers of the kids by establishing after-school programs. After such objective measures were applied the numbers of such kids has dramatically dropped over the past few years. Exposing children at such young stages to extensive periods of time alone can have some consequences.

However, there are some kids who develop positive behavior and character for lack of adequate parental attention. Some of the positive effects are premature awareness of independence, adaptation to adverse situations and the need to fulfill certain visible requirements in the household. Most latchkey kids develop a sense of self reliance and they are likely to display more maturity than normal kids of their age.

There are negative and positive effects of being a latchkey kid. Negative effects include exhibition of fear, isolation, low self esteem and hostility. Latchkey kids usually have higher probability of engaging in unsafe practices such as substance abuse and criminal activities. Kids pick up such habits from friends they stay around when parents are away and even from the extended periods of watching television programs.

Extensive periods of time spent alone makes kids stay indoors instead of playing outside. This results to challenges such as obesity and ultimately diminished self esteem. Latchkey cases are becoming popular globally. The significant increased numbers of single mothers in the workforce has attributed to the additional numbers of such children. For this reason they are forced to work extra time to provide for the families.

Legal concerns also pop up for library attendants who look after latchkey kids after school hours. This is in regards to cases of abduction of rape that may occur to kids when their parents fail or get late to pick up their kids. It is the duty of child welfare and the law enforcement to ensure that such occurrences are accounted for.

Finally, the phenomenon of latchkey kids has become more rampant in the recent years because of certain unavoidable circumstances. Working guardians have no choice but to leave their kids unsupervised to earn more income to pillar the household. Most parents leave their kids to tend for themselves out of necessity and not out of will.




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