Latchkey Children Latchkey Children are children who return from school to an empty house because their parents are away working or their just left alone at home with little or no parental supervision. In today's society this is becoming more and more common due to the fact that in most households, both parents carry a job or career to support the family. Other names for Latchkey Children are "children in self-care", "children of working parents", "unsupervised children" etc. Leaving a child unsupervised after school can pose both positive and negative effects. According to the article "Ranks of latchkey kids approach 7 million" many children aren't supervised by anybody. This is due to the fact …show more content…

Single parents who cannot afford supervised care, or who live in communities where supervised care is not available, must leave their children home alone unsupervised. Their must be more community resources put in place to ensure parents other affordable options rather than the high costing day care programs that are in place today. There are many potential positive as well as negative outcomes of self-care. On the positive side, children who are left alone after school feel more responsible, independent and reliable. Some children take a sense of pride knowing that they are helping out their family by staying at home alone and taking care of themselves. On the negative side, there is a huge concern for the physical safety and emotional needs of a latchkey child. According to the article (Latchkey Children: "Something To Think About"pg.1) Latchkey children have increased risks for "household injuries, sexual exploitation, substance abuse and psychological trauma's (mental anxieties)". "In addition, the latchkey child may repeatedly experience varying degrees of loneliness, boredom and fear". According to this article, fear was the biggest problem the latchkey children faced. These children were coping with their fears by "hiding in a closet or under the bed, checking the house repeatedly, staying after school in order to avoid going home, and also using the television excessively. (Latchkey Children: "Something To