Would you hire an almost 12 year old to babysit your children?

If the babysitter was





a) a smart/responsible/mature kid





b) Knows how to have fun





c) Has taken a Red Cross babysitting course and gotten his/her certification. (The course covers CPR, health emergencies, babysitting scenarios, all kinds of basic injuries, proper play, how to have fun with the kids, and how to get babysitting jobs.)

Would you hire an almost 12 year old to babysit your children?
SOrry that seems a bit young yet. There are some things like driving and voting that are restricted by age regardless of maturity etc. and babysitting by an 11/12 year old seems too young to be allowed regardless of certification and maturity. nneed to wait until 13 when i was growing up and these days 14 might be better.





Call your local dept of children's welfare and ask them what age they would think is acceptable since they are the ones who would blame you if something happened to your kids while in the care of someone they think is too young to be watching other kids.
Reply:I babysat at that age, but I lived next door and my mother was available in an emergency. So unless you have a back-up adult nearby, I would say no. The youngest I would leave my kids with would be a very mature 14.
Reply:11 is awful young...depends on the age of your kids...if they're older than 5, then i guess it'd be OK, but younger than that would just be way too difficult for a 12 year ld to handle (in my opinion)
Reply:no I would not. I have way to many kids for one twelve yr old to babysit.
Reply:Yep, seems like a pretty good kid.
Reply:No, where I live the law is that if children are left alone at least one of them must be 14 or older. Some 12 year olds certainly are responsible and trustworthy but you never know what could happen. I had a situation when I was babysitting at 15 and someone tried to break into the house where I was. The kids were asleep and I freaked out a little bit and then called the police. At that time we did not have 9-1-1 service. I think if something like that happened most 12 year olds, no matter how responsible would have trouble with the situation.
Reply:simply , NO , a 12 year old is still a child its self , the course taken may have covered an emergencies and cpr , but in an emergency i think a 12 year old would panic and not be very helpful , in theory fine, in reality is it worth the risk ,
Reply:yes, with all she has had in training, yes! But if the kids were babies, I'd probably not, but older kids, yes! I think this 12 year old can do it! But not every 12 year old can! She sounds smart!
Reply:12 seems too young to me.
Reply:To be honest, l don't know! l guess l'd have to meet the girl/boy myself and get a gut feeling about them....12 just seems awfully young, doesn't it? l realise they have a lot of background behind them, but l'm a firm believer that you can't always put an old head on young shoulders. Just because they've practised emergency scenarios doesn't mean they'll keep their heads in a real emergency, you know what l mean? On the other hand, l guess during the day, with older children might be ok. l'm not much help am l? Trust your own instincts as a parent, that's my best advice!
Reply:it depends if you trust the kid. How well you know them. They sound good. just ask the kids parents
Reply:Yes, I would hire that person.
Reply:no
Reply:ABSOLUTELY NOT! The only skill a person has to care for children is EXPERIENCE!





A 12 year old will not know how to react in an emergency- I know several adults who also would not be able to keep their composure long enough to perform CPR or the Heimlich maneuver.





Also, if a small fire broke out, an 11 year old child would be more concerned with getting in trouble than seeing this as the only chance to call 911 before the fire blazed out of control.





I am 37 years old and have been a parent for 16 years and have run an at home daycare for 11 years. Having dealt with burns, broken arms, fire, strangers at the door, choking kids- I can assure you that EXPERIENCE is the only thing that gets you through those tough times.





I even had a rabid dog in my yard once and had to throw 2 small children on top of my car and beat him off with a golf club- know any kid that could handle that?
Reply:My younger sister is 12, and she watched my brother's gf's kids. She is just learning, she did it once with my mom there in case she had questions or problems, and once without her. The kids are 5 1/2 and 7 yrs. Although I personally wouldn't leave my almost 3 yr. old alone with her.
Reply:No, an 11 year old is too young to babysit. My daughter is 11, and the most mature, responsible kid I know, but I wouldn't even let her babysit.
Reply:No. At 12, no matter how mature they seem and whatever certificates they have, i would not feel comfortable with somebody that young looking after my babies.
Reply:This child would sound perfect at around age 14, if I also knew them personally. But at 12 or younger? No way. But that's just my own opinion.
Reply:I would for my older too, but not the baby.
Reply:Yes, in fact I have a neighbor that lives across the street from me and is 12, she took the red cross babysitting course. I have three children too and I trust her with them. She cleans up all the mess that her and the kids make while she babysits, and she knows her first aid. She also plays with the children and doesn't watch TV or talk on the phone or anything like that. So if you do that they probably will trust you.
Reply:A 12 year old, no matter how responsible and mature, is still a very young child. I would proceed with caution. If they are school age children, it's probably okay, but I wouldn't trust someone this young with an infant or a toddler.





Other things to consider:





If something did happen and the authorities got involved, would it be seen as neglect (leaving your child with a child) in your state? What is the legal age for a babysitter?





How many children are there to watch? Will the babysitter be overwhelmed?





How confident am I that the babysitter will make the right decisions when faced with a panic situation? (Classes are great for preparation, but there's no substitute for real-llife experience).





Does the babysitter have references?





A sidebar comment on the "mature, responsible" part: remember that with kids/teens there's the side that they show parents and adults, and the side they show everyone else. Nothing against them, but kids know how to put up a front just as well as adults do.





Hope this helps!
Reply:I wouldn't NOT hire this person, but I would have them spend some interactive time with my kids and see what happens. Does s/he keep my kids busy, do they let my kids know who is in charge (with that person preferably being the sitter), and how well do they get along in general? This can be hard to accomplish if the kids know that the sitter-to-be is being graded. They will, of course, act up, act out, act anything but normal during this process. If the sitter gets along reasonably well with the kids, lets them know who is in charge, and makes sure they stay busy with something (meaning in a supervised situation, not left alone) then I would hire this person. I work in a crisis center and would also make sure they have a plan with phone numbers of what to do in different types of emergency situations. Hope this helped.
Reply:yeah, i guess so i babysat when i was 12 ! but i guess it depends on how well u know this person.!
Reply:No!
Reply:Nope cause here in iowa in the town i live in you have to be at least 14! You have to take the classes required!