Hope for the LATCHKEY CHILD - Patrick A Parnell - October 1984

Patrick A Parnell

Children left home alone for long periods of time are called latchkey children. What is not known are the many different ways a parent who is at home may produce a latchkey child. Like millions of other children, 16-year-old Susan and 13-year-old Cindy didn't really ask to be in the left-to-themselves situation they find themselves in so much of the time lately. Their mother acquired a mutually agreed upon divorce from their dad. She's now gone a good deal of the time, either working or away from home visiting friends. The girls usually return from school to an empty home and are by themselves for much of the time. Susan and Cindy's dad is in the military and he rarely sees the girls. The girls' situation is far from ideal. Susan pretty much comes and goes as she pleases, doing what she wants when she wants. She now has a steady boyfriend and she's known to be experimenting with drugs. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library