Forum
Recently, Families posed the question as to whether the government should make it illegal to leave a child under the age of 12 at home unsupervised (All by myself: August 14). Here's the response from one concerned party.
The Hong Kong Committee on Children's Rights was established in 1992, with the prime aim of addressing the problem of children being left alone at home.
A series of incidents in which children have died or been injured has been attributed to social changes in the late 1980s - such as an increasing number of working mothers, and married couples no longer living with their parents or in-laws. A government consultation paper in 1990 recommended public education and supportive services - but not legislation - as solutions to the problems.
Fourteen years have passed and, despite the occasional public education campaign and support information, such tragedies continue. We feel sorry for the parents and caretakers who underestimated the risk of leaving children unattended even for short periods of time. But a child's right to survival and protection can't be taken lightly.
Although we agree that public education is essential and childcare services need to be made family-friendly, it's time to revisit the issue of legislation. Legislation has an important educational element, setting out the standard of care expected of parents in the case of children being left unattended.
There need to be sanctions to punish irresponsible parents and caretakers who put young children at such risk. It's sometimes argued that such legislation would be difficult to police, but this doesn't seem to be a problem with, say, checking cars for compliance with the use of seatbelts.
Young children are vulnerable. They can't wait another 10 years for protective measures to be implemented. We sincerely hope the government will soon introduce legislation to tackle the 'home alone' problem.
The Hong Kong Committee on Children's Rights
3/F, Western District Community Centre,
36A Western St, Sai Ying Pun
