Parents share their anxieties

Dubai:  "I am on the verge of depression because I have to leave my son alone for about 4 hours every day," a worried working mother, who asked not to be named, confided.

The woman said that she has no choice but to leave her 8-year-old son alone, since leaving her job or hiring help is not an option due to the family's financial situation. The fact that she works in Musaffah, about 40 minutes away from their home in the city doesn't help either, she said.

"From 2pm when he gets back from school to about 6pm, when I reach home, it is a horrible time for me."

The recent reports about the fatal accidents involving children are extremely distressing for her as their apartment is on the tenth floor of a high-rise building, she confessed.

"Sometimes I call him and he does not pick up the phone; he may have gone to sleep, but until I return, I feel terrible," she said, adding that she is currently job hunting to find work closer to home.

A Gulf News poll, involving 4,484 readers, found that 67 per cent believe it is never acceptable to leave a child alone, while 29 per cent thought it depends on the age of the child. 1 per cent of parents said it would be fine to leave sleeping children alone at home. One per cent of parents each felt it would be fine to leave the child alone for just half an hour, one hour or a few hours.

Supervision

"It is never ever acceptable to leave your child alone, even if it is just for few minutes," said Amal Tarek Al Rayan, a government employee who hails from Bahrain.

According to her, at least until 12 years of age, children should never be left without adult supervision.

"You never know; children are highly imaginative and could try to replicate what they saw their superheroes doing in movies," said the mother of a 3-year-old boy.

Flexible office hours

Al Rayan said that offices should offer flexible working hours for women to help ease the pressure of managing homes as well as their jobs. She said that she has a nanny to help her with her child. She reckoned that thinking of saving on the money one pays for the nanny was out of the question because no matter how much you feel sorry later it wouldn't help, she added.

Alpa Piyush Doshi, a part-time teacher and a mother of a 11-year-old boy also feels the same.

She said that on rare occasions when she had to leave her son alone, while he was much younger, she used to get her neighbour to take care of the child.

Even if children are not alone, it would be helpful to put more safety measures in place such as grills on windows, she said.