PRECAUTIONS KEY FOR `LATCH-KEY' KIDS

A Cape Girardeau woman said that when her 12- and 9-year-old children joined 30,000 other Missouri youngsters dubbed "latch-key kids," she wanted to make sure that they were safe.

The woman said that her children watch themselves each day after school while she and her husband work. During the summer when school is out and the children have more free time, they are home alone less often.

"You can never be too careful," the woman said. She even requested that her name not be published for fear of letting predators know that her children are alone each day.

"With something like this, you can never be too careful," she said. "I don't want anyone to know my children are home alone. That would be stupid. There are people who prey on young children like that. I don't want to give anybody a chance to do that."

She said she has her oldest son call her at work as soon as they get home from school.

"If they don't call me within 15 minutes I'm out the door to find them," she said.

The longest amount of time that they are home alone is two hours, and they are under strict orders: Don't answer the phone unless they hear their mother's voice on the answering machine; Don't cook -- they eat sandwiches and other prepared food; never open the door, even if they know who is on the other side of it.

Not everyone is as responsible as this woman. This was never more apparent than when four young Marion, Ill., children died in a trailer fire Friday while the adults responsible for them were out drinking.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said that parents can be prosecuted criminally if the judgment calls they make are criminally negligent or reckless.

There are laws ranging from involuntary manslaughter to child endangerment that are there to ensure that children are taken care of, he said.

The law offers no guidance on how old a child has to be to stay home alone, Swingle said. He said that is a decision left up to the parent, but should be based on the child's age, maturity and intelligence.

"So, when you have situations in which a reasonable person would arrange for a babysitter for a child, but instead went out drinking, and the child ends up dying in a fire or going out in the street and getting hit by a car or is otherwise accidentally killed," that's when the laws kick in, Swingle said.

Jamie Ruffini, supervisor of community education for the State Department of Education, said there are over 30,000 "latch-key" children in the state.

Almost all juvenile crime happens between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., she said. That's when most children are left unattended while their parents work. That is also the time when most teen-age girls become pregnant, she said.

These things can be avoided if parents use common sense when deciding to let their children stay home. She said that the rules the Cape Girardeau woman follows are good ones, and discretion should always be used.

While there are 250 school districts that receive state funding to public schools to provide full-time and after-school child care, there are none in Cape Girardeau, Ruffini said.

But small children can be placed in day cares and babysitters can be a vital tool, she said.