The Negative Effects Of Latchkey Kids

What Are The Effects of Latchkey Kids?

Latchkey kids are children who return from school to an empty home because their parent or parents are away at work, or a child who is left home with little parental supervision. Over ½ of children in the United States are latchkey kids due to single parents or parental divorce. Leaving kids at home alone can be very dangerous and in some cases leads to children being separated from their parents by childcare, so being a latchkey child has many effects. Some of the negative effects of being latchkey kids are peer pressure from other children or adults, injuries from trying to be independent or from being harmed, and loneliness. The amount of effects latchkey kids face can be minimized by community involvement,

parental safety tips, and parents creating a safe perimeter at home for their kids.
Kids who experience the lack of parental involvement is lead to peer pressure from other children or adults.

Children aren’t old enough to recognize peer pressure and are easy to persuade. Kids could experience peer pressure walking home from school and become influenced to steal, fight, or commit small crimes: throwing rocks into someone’s window, trespassing, or kicking neighbor’s cars and causing damage. Being peer pressured gives rise to drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and sexual activity. Without knowing the effects of drugs, kids can overdose or even lose their mind. If the drug the kid takes help them relieve the feeling of abandonment or other possible effects from lack of parental involvement, there is a strong possibility the kid will become addicted. Alcohol is easy to locate to kids who have older siblings or older neighbors despite their age. The amount of peer pressure to consume alcohol can sometimes be more challenging than to smoke cigarettes. Most kids are introduced to the DARE program at school, which is mainly for saying no to drugs but doesn’t focus on alcohol as much. Another possibility for alcohol becoming hard for kids to avoid is the known effects. Some parents educate kids on how bad smoking is and when kids watch television they see the effects of smoking from elders placing microphones to their necks to talk. However, ads about the effects of the consumption of alcohol is not shown as much on television. Children who don’t have parents at home all

the times are more than likely to experience sexual activity. Sexual activity can effect children in critical ways. Kids can become emotional attached and harm themselves after losing significant other. Without having a parent to love at home, kids can look for the love their missing in other kids. When kids are emotionally connected, which is normally after sexual intercourse, they become even easier to persuade because they trust each other more than anyone else. Kids being too emotionally can possibly have a child at an early age, which leads to even more misunderstood stressful issues: financial stability, lack of sleep, and no personal time.
Younger children that are easy to persuade are easily kidnapped, raped, and killed. While walking home strangers can persuade kids to enter their vehicles or walk to a non-public, harm them and disappear. Some strangers kidnap kids and want money in exchange or for their personal need: labor. Most latchkey kids’ parents are too busy to instruct them on strangers and adults pretend to be relatives of parents or special friends, the kid trust them and become abducted.
Kids who are home alone are more probable to injuries from trying to be independent or harmed. When children are home alone and become hungry they could fall trying to reach kitchen items to feed themselves. Most parents place kitchen items high locations that’s out of the child reach, the child can climb onto the counter, fall, and hurt themselves. Other injuries from hunger could come from the items the child uses to cut or open their food; knives, can openers. Using sharp items can also cause death children. The child could accidentally cut themselves in an artery or vein and experience massive bleeding.
Kids who are not experienced with heating food or drinks can burn the house down or even burn themselves. Children can burn themselves by forgetting they left on the stove after cooking, return and touch it by accident. One of the easiest ways a child could burn themselves is by heating easy cooked foods: Roman Noodles, hotdogs, or raviolis. If the kid happens to cook and never return back to cut off the fire, they could possibly burn the house down. Some kids mistakes drinks as cleaning products and poison themselves or cause permanent damage. Drinks could easily be confused by parents using clear insect destroyers or cleaning products in clear and colorful containers: water as bug replant, and Pines oil as apple juice. If the kid happens to ingest the product, they can also suffer instant death.
While walking home alone, kids easy to access by stray or neighbor owned animals that can bite or kill them. Some neighbors like to leave their pets outside, normally dogs, without being properly contained because they think their pets wouldn’t harm anyone. If the dog is not use to the kid or see the kid as a threat, it will attack in defense of the home. Stray animal are normally patrolling neighbor hoods in search of food, which can lead to the child becoming an easy, defenseless meal.
One of the most effective outcomes latchkey children experience is loneliness.

Latchkey children become lonely because they can’t go outside while parents are home and play with other kids. Experiencing loneliness leads to the feeling of neglect. When a child feels neglected, they can have multiple negative outcomes: suicidal thought, poor school performance, or behavioral problems. Not having love from parents will cause kids to become isolated and not talk to anyone. Kids could then possibly develop suicidal thoughts or the thought of harming others. Having harmful thoughts leads to behavior problems and children not being able to enjoy their child hoods. Without being able to enjoy their child hoods like other peers, kids will become angry and began fighting or bullying other kids. Kids having behavior problems can also lead to classroom disturbances, cheating on test, and others disrespectful actions to teachers, because they are falling behind. Kids who experience loneliness are often not able to express themselves. When kids are not able to express themselves they become depressed. Depression is a very tough stage for kids to overcome and can cause them to give up on trying to cope in the environment they are surrounded by or not enjoy themselves for a long period of time. Being alone cause’s kids to performance and drop out because there isn’t anyone at home help with homework or other school activities. Majority of kids who experience loneliness are likely to have

numerous fears: recurring nightmares, noises, darkness, increased concern for personal safety, fear of fires, and also fear of intruders (Deborah). What most parents fail to realize is every moment spent away from a kids is important. The fears kids experience being alone are easily to overcome or in some cases permanent.