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,

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

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