What the hell did your young high schooler do after school and you’re at work ?

Anonymous

What the hell did your young high schooler do after school and you’re at work ?

Surely We can’t be the only family in this position... ok so I’m feeling really stressed about sending my son to high school next year. It’s not just the high school part but the part about what the hell does everyone do with their young high schoolers after school while you’re at work ???

We work full time 9-5 and no school has any afterschool care or activities on a daily basis..there is 1 school that has it and it’s literally the last choice to send him there (huge school, bad rep).

Right now I don’t see him being mature enough to get home by himself. Im sure he will mature in the next year... maybe I’m just being overprotective 🤷🏻‍♀️

Because no one has suitable afterschool activities I haven’t even picked a school yet!

What did everyone do with their young high school age kids after school cause I know we’re not the only people who work these hours.

Posted in:  Education, Teenagers

20 Replies

Anonymous

They stay home! My teenagers can stay home all day by themselves and at night. Unless your child has a legit reason to be supervised there's no reason why he can't be home by himself for that tiny window. If he has to catch the bus that can take close to an hour to get home anyway, he won't be home for long at all. Start preparing him now by teaching him what he can and can't do when he's home alone and start leaving him for short periods, 15 minutes at first then work up. This is more about you than him, trust me, he would be capable.

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Anonymous

Yes I thought it’s more me lol. He’s an only child and will be 11 at the start of high school it just seems so young to be catching public transport. I have started to leave him home while nipping out to shops etc.

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Anonymous

It's scary I know, I was in the same boat. My daughter has quite a long commute to school too. Make sure he has a phone for emergencies. If possible take the first couple of days off and make the commute with him. Make sure he rings you as soon as he gets home (at least until you are comfortable). Good luck for his first year!

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Anonymous

Single mum
My son is getting the bus and staying home alone. It will be about an hour and a half.
I am working over the holidays, so son has started staying home.
He is extremely mature, well behaved and I have moved to a good area.

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Anonymous

Thank you my son is well behaved also it’s more the catching public transport that worries me. He will only be 11 at the start of high school. I have started keeping him home for small intervals already We can’t leave him home alone all day on holidays as we’re in QLD and it’s against the law to leave them alone under 12 for extended period of time

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Anonymous

My son won’t be catching public transport, he will be getting the school bus.
Big difference.
Do you have a school bus?
My son has just turned 12.

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Anonymous

They stay at home. No high schooler would want to go to a after school care program. Get practicing leaving him home alone and he'll love it. I was left home alone from like 8 or 9 (diff times!). I LOOOVED IT!!

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Anonymous

Yes definitely a different time. Catching public transport home at 11 seems so young to me but I lived in a small town growing up. It’s not so much the at home part as we’ve started leaving him home while doing shopping etc

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Anonymous

Unless you don't trust him or he's extremely naive and likely to be vulnerable to bad people, I don't see why there would be an issue with taking a bus/train. Once he gets home, the expectation is homework and a chore. That would probably take it through to you being home anyway. Buy his a basic phone or a watch phone if you're concerned and get him to check in.

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Anonymous

Depending on the type of kid (sounds like your son is the good type) he would love having that responsibility and trust to stay home on his own. (Not going to lie some kids run a mile when given this freedom) but I know plenty of kids who take it on great and love having that responsibility so would never do anything to sabotage it. I was the same, it took my mum ages to leave but when she did, I loved it because it made me feel grown up lol

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Anonymous

They stay home. They get themselves home safely, do there homework etc and watch tv. Unless there is some other issues going on the vast majority of high schoolers are perfectly capable of doing this.
Definitely time to expect more of him.

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Anonymous

I can guarantee he won’t be the only kid from his school catching his transport. There will be a group of them that are all catching the same bus/train etc it’s not really alone. They are with each other. He will quickly find a group of peers.

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Anonymous

This is why we have to be forward thinking in our parenting and realise we are preparing our children for adulthood. Unless there is a medical/psychological reason by year 7 your child should be well equipped to get home and care for themselves for 2-3 hours.
You provide them with a phone for emergencies, contacts he can call, a list on the fridge, instructions for working certain appliances and a list of jobs to keep him busy.

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Anonymous

My kid starts high school next year, we're a 5 minute walk from the high school mine are going to so PT isn't something I have to worry about.
There's a notoriously dangerous road to contend with though so I have my concerns about that lol.

I use public transport a lot so I get your apprehension, I'd feel nervous letting my kids bus/train alone too at 11. I don't know if he'll be using a bus or train but I have noticed that the bus drivers in my area are pretty good at keeping an eye on school kids (they'll help them of they look confused, make sure they're going where they need to be going, they interject if things start getting rowdy etc).
I would suggest doing a few public transport practice runs with him during the holidays so he's prepared.
I'd also take wait times into consideration when picking the school, any that would mean extended wait times at bus stops/train stations would be out for me because I feel like that's where most of the risk lies.

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Anonymous

Get a nanny if you’re that concerned. I’m sure there’s a Uni student who would love a couple of hours work per day.

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Anonymous

My son was apprehensive about the bus because he had to do a bus change (our small town to the city and then onto another bus to go to his school) so for the very first time he got on the bus and I followed in the car, he found his second bus easily and then he was fine. I just organised to start late that one day.

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Anonymous

It's a bit nerve wracking, isn't it? On my sons first day of catching the bus I stayed home 'just in case' he missed it. My older daughter went to a different school but she would change buses and end up on the same bus as my son. She got home, but he didn't. He was not on the bus when she changed. I drove straight to the school thinking he had missed the bus and panicking that he would try and walk home instead of going to the office like I told him if he missed the bus. When I got to school and told them my son didn't get off the bus they started to make phone calls to the bus company when my daughter rang to say my son had just walked through the door. There were apparently 2 buses that did our route and he was on the second one, I was about ready to report him missing with the police 😂

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Anonymous

Trust me, by this time next year, you will be a lot more comfortable with it.
They mature a hell of a lot this year, my son also started puberty, it’s a big year.

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Anonymous

Hubby took lunch at 245 to get them and drop home due to where we live amd went back to work. They woukd be alone until I finished work around 6pm

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Anonymous

I know you're fearful about public transport but the reality is children are most at risk from people they know. Stranger danger is not very likely at all. That's what the evidence shows us. For my daughter next year we will buy her a phone. I was on my own from grade four! I was fine but now it seems really young!

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