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Comment by empath75 | Hacker News Reader

she left a 12 year old in charge of a three year old at the mall which is a much different situation.

Seriously? Where I live I regularly see 7 year olds alone in charge of 3 year olds at the playground. I‘m talking about Switzerland, much the same in many European countries and Japan.

Here's the rule from the transit system in Berlin:

"Children under four years of age may only use public transport if they are accompanied by a person who is at least six years of age."

https://www.bvg.de/en/Tickets/fare-overview/conditions-of-ca...

11-13 year old me was regularly walking with my 1-3 year old brother alone. It was in Russia, in the 90s.

Same here in Canada, though I wonder if part of the reason older siblings are trusted with younger ones is that parents are less worried the second or third time around—if they’re more trusting that “the kids will be alright,” by then.

A generation ago 12 year olds were thought to be fully capable of babysitting and many did.

Am I remembering things wrong, or wasnt baby sitters potentially 12 years old when I was growing up?

Yes, in my time seven years old children could go off on the streets to play for hours by themselves, ride a bike or skate without a helmet, etc. Things have gone in not a precisely healthy direction, in my opinion.

If a 12 year old child can’t take care of a three year old they have failed as a 12 year old.

I'd imagine most 12 yo without experience of 3 yo children wouldn't have much of a clue. Many adults, even those of grandparent age (who've had kids) seem clueless as to the abilities of pre-schoolers and hence the ability of them to get in trouble.

They might be able to stop the infant from killing themselves, it depends a lot on the 3 yo. In our case the eldest is over-protective mostly, except when bored or distracted ...

I think you've overstretched with that claim.

A 12 year old with a 3 yo sibling will have 3 years of experience with that sibling and know how to care for them. Of course, if the 12 yo has not been raised to be a responsible person, there is a risk. But roughly for millenia, older siblings have cared for their younger siblings while the adults were working / busy. It is a relatively recent development that we don't trust kids anymore.

Agreed, but the parent post didn't mention 12 yos with 3yo siblings. A little experience, and learning from watching parent-infant interactions, goes along way.

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