The Concept of Latchkey Children - Essay Example

Latchkey Children The term latchkey child was coined during World War II. With at least one parent at war, the other was forced to find a job, leaving children to come home to empty houses, apartments, and tenements. The child was forced to open the latch with a key, thus the terminology latchkey children. These children face different problems and issues unique to their situations. These issues include, but are not limited to, boredom, fear, higher risk of drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, criminal behavior, abuse, and sometimes even death. In the 2002 American Census survey, 5.8 million children between the age of five and fourteen years of age are left alone on average of 6.3 hours per week (Overturf Johnson 2005). The rise of the number of latchkey children has been due to various social trends. Today, there are more single parent homes. In two parent homes, the trend is for both parents to work out of the home. It has become acceptable to leave children due to work. Some parents have even taken it to another level, leaving their children home on the weekends for social reasons. Whatever the reason, latchkey children face tough obstacles. The first obstacle latchkey children face is boredom. Latchkey children are normally instructed to come directly home from school. When the child gets home, they are taught not to use the phone (except to call Mom or Dad), not to go outside, and not to have any guests over. This means no going to play games outside. The child also cannot talk to friends on the phone, or have them over. All that is left to entertain the child is the television, books, or indoor games. Swartz (1996) suggests the once common notion that self-care led to greater maturity has been replaced with the knowledge that many "latchkey" children, home alone after school, may experience loneliness, fear, and worry. They also risk injury, victimization, bad nutrition, and the negative impact of excessive television viewing. Adolescents who care for younger siblings may experience great stress and must forgo constructive after-school activities. The child matures, but in an unhealthy way. A child needs more options than the television. Fear is a positive and negative when concerning a latchkey children. In order to protect children from real dangers, parents instill a certain amount of fear into their children. Santana (2003) reports: Jan Eatre, of Berkely, doesn’t give her son a strict set of rules and schedule because, he hates being told what to do. He gets that at school all day. [Also,] he’s very self-sufficient, grounded. Your family’s latch-key rules, she says, depend upon your relationship with your child already. If you don’t trust your children, then you have a problem. Parents transfer their fear to their children. Children differ, but a parent’s fear can be transferred to the majority. In order to balance this fear, parents need to prepare their children for all emergencies. Positive fear is proactive, whereas negative fear is crippling. Latchkey children have a greater risk to get into trouble. Without adult supervision, children can get into a lot of mischief. Fighting with siblings can occur. Another problem is not coming straight home from school. Peer pressure can make children allow their friends to come over. Children can also go outside. Homework can also suffer, without a parent there to help or make the child finish. Woods (1972) reported that the low-income urban fifth graders in self-care whom she studied had more academic and social problems than those in traditional after-school arrangements. (Gray 1987) Parents are not there to supervise, so children think they can do anything they want. Children are smart. They know how to get by with things, especially when parents are too tired from work to check up on their child or enforce rules. There is a higher risk of children using drugs and alcohol if they are latchkey children. Gray (1987) found, “Thomas Long (in press) found that as children spend more time unattended in their homes, the incidence of experimentation with alcohol and sex increases.” Drug use has shown to be more prevalent as well (Riley, Steinberg 2004). The reason latchkey children use alcohol and drugs more due to the lack of supervision. Children and teens do not come home and drink and do drugs in front of their parents, if the parents love and set rules for their children. Even good parents have children that sneak off to party. The difference becomes where a child parties. Latchkey children do not have to leave their homes. It is more convenient and easy to drink and use drugs. Sexual activity is also more prevalent among latchkey children. With no parental supervision, the doctor game goes to the next level. Swartz (1996) explains: Those who "hang out" with similarly aimless friends may join gangs or engage in premature sexual activity, drug and alcohol use, and other anti-social behavior. Idle youth are particularly prone to many negative influences in urban areas. Urban areas tend to have more unwed pregnant teenagers. These trends go back to having the opportunity to get pregnant. Instead of closing keeping teens apart, parents leave their children alone and able to invite the opposite sex home. It is no wonder that pregnant teens are a growing number. As seen above, some latchkey children join gangs. These gangs can recruit as young as twelve. Without a parent’s supervision, a child can roam the street and fall in with a gang. Even without gang influence, petty theft, vandalism, and fighting can still occur. A parent would not have a clue until the child is taken into custody. By the time a child is arrested, it is generally too late to change their course. Prison, probation, and death await the children criminals who are not saved from themselves. So far the issues facing the children have been in the child’s control. However, there are predators waiting to prey on helpless children. Sexual abuse is a growing concern. Pedophiles can groom children easily because of the following factors: Single-parent families are increasingly prevalent; adult relationships are more short-term and superficial. Less fortunate children become latch-key kids, responsible for their own entertainment, maturation, and meals. (Burtinshaw 2006) Children need adult attention. If they do not find that attention from their parents, they will find it elsewhere. The problem is pedophiles give the wrong kind of attention. Without a parent around to observe, children fall into a predator’s trap. Accident is the leading cause of death in the home. Latchkey children can panic and make a situation worse. For example, a grease fire that touches water only flares. Children do not have that kind of knowledge. Even if a parent tries to teach their children every possibility, children tend to panic. This is not even mentioning gang violence or intentional violence aimed at the child by classmates or a common criminal. Death is a real possibility for latchkey children. All of the above issues, boredom, fear, higher risk of drug and alcohol use, sexual activity, criminal behavior, abuse, and death, can be prevented with the right type of parenting. The above issues should not keep a parent from work. If a parent keeps in mind a few tips, then having a latchkey child should not be a problem. The first tip is a parent should keep their child informed and vise versa. A child should know exactly what is expected, including where the key to get into the dwelling is located, how to get home, and when to be home. Then the parent should have the child memorize the parent’s work number, neighbors’ numbers, and most importantly 911. A fire drill should be in placed and routinely practiced. No friends, strangers, or other adults should be allowed to pop in unannounced. The child should never open the door to anyone. If the parents choose to have an adult check up on the child, they should provide the responsible party with a key. Any other problems that arise can be dealt with as they come up. Communication is the key. Speaking with a child for thirty minutes about their day can prevent many problems. Another tip is checking up on the child. A parent should schedule a time when they or another adult can randomly check on the child. This will make the child behave, because they never know when an adult will show up. It is hard to party, have friends over, or get into to trouble while looking over one’s shoulder. The child will follow the rules. Finally, make sure your child knows they are more important than a job. If a child is hesitant to call a parent over a real problem, then something is wrong with the parent/child relationship. Good relationships are just as important for latchkey children and their parents as children returning home to find an adult. Latchkey children face tough issues, but so do all children. Parenting is not easy, especially in a single parent home. Latchkey children do not have more or less negative issues to deal with than regular children. The key is for a parent to pay attention. It might be hard after working all day, but in the end the effort will be well worth the effort. Bibliography Burtinshaw, J. (July 18, 2006). Child sex crimes. Who is responsible? Suite101.com. Accessed 25 February 2008 from http://crime.suite101.com/article.cfm/child_sex_crimes Gray, E. B. (1987). Latchkey children. ERIC Digest. Overturf Johnson, J. (November 9, 2005). Whos minding the kids? Child Care Arrangements: Winter 2002. U.S. Census Bureau. Riley, D. and J. Steinberg. (January 2004). Four popular stereotypes about children in self-care: Implications for family life educators. Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies 53 (1): 95-101.  Santana, J. (October 5, 2003). Is your kid latchkey material? Connect For Kids. Accessed 25 February 2008 from http://www.connectforkids.org/node/506 Schwartz, W. (1996). After-School Programs for Urban Youth. ERIC/CUE Digest No. 114. Read More