Throughout the years, using some of the suggestions listed below have helped make the home alone time productive and safe for my children. I thought maybe you could get a few ideas to use if you have children who stay alone in the afternoons.
1. Hire an older high school student or college student to stay with your children after school. Allow your children to be involved in the interview process. Get references and check them. Write out expectations, schedules and safety precautions. If the care giver is going to transport your children to team practices or lessons, be sure to go over the seat belt rules and driving habits.
2. If your children are teenagers and do not need a care giver, make up a set of house rules so they know what is expected of them. Such as: call me as soon as you get home, do homework, complete chores and set television/Nintendo/computer guidelines.
3. If you have children at home and have Internet assess or cable TV/satellite, you need to have age appropriate restrictions set on your systems to prevent their curiosity to roam into inappropriate areas.
4. Leave a list of emergency numbers and names and numbers of friends and neighbors if your children need immediate assistance.
5. Discuss and role play these situations to help your child know what to do:
a. Answering the phone and taking messages
b. Going to a friend's house or having friends over
c. Losing the house key
d. Missing the bus or carpool
e. Staying after school
f. Choking, poisoning or accidental injury
g. Fire, flood(burst pipes), or natural disaster
h. Someone hassles, threatens or makes sexual advances
I. Stranger on the phone or at the door
j. Weather emergencies
Remember when you arrive home from work, ask specific questions about your children's day. Show them that you are interested in their world. Use open-ended questions such as Tell me about.... or What happened today that you can be really thankful for?