UK people: would you trust a 14yr old babysitter?

[elliebeebee]

Ok, so I'm 13 at the moment, but when I turn 14 I'm going to do babysitting for people. I'm going to learn first aid, what to do in a fire, what to do in a power cut, stuff like that. The thing is, if I advertised my services (saying about my first aid skills etc.) would you employ me? And how much would you pay me?

 

[Jake]

It would depend on how old my kids were (like 4-8 then sure), but even then - unless they were really mature and responsible for their age, then probably not.

 

[Hyoshido]

With how young teens in the UK are these days, probably not.

I'm not trying to sound offending either, it's just alot of young teens these days are just spoilt.

 

[elliebeebee]

I see your point Hyogo. Many teens in my town are very very spoilt. I'm quite mature for my age, well more mature than the people my age at school.

 

[Celestefey]

I first babysat when I was around 15 years old. The parents were only out from 8-11/12ish (at night). Luckily for me, I only had to take care of one child, who was about 6 years old, and I just had to make sure he got into bed alright at night, then that was that. To be honest... I don't know, I feel like we grow up and change so much during puberty, that there is still a notable difference in maturity from 13-14, then 14-15, then 15-16... I don't know, I suppose if you were only going to be babysitting for a short amount of time (like a couple of hours max), I don't see WHY you wouldn't be allowed, but I don't think you will find many people willing to accept, just generally because of your age. You're just a biiiit too young! Unless you asked your aunts or uncles or neighbours like maybe they have kids that might need babysitting, I think if you did that at first that would be okay.

(Also, I got paid ?20, was given their Wifi password, and they left me out snacks/sweets/etc...)

Edit: Also that "I'm mature for my age" thing is bull****. :x Not to offend you, 'cause I said the exact same thing when I was like 12, but really, maturity is just something that comes with "growing up"/puberty...

 

[Chris]

No, especially not if I didn't know them already.

However, that's not to say it's the same for everyone. I remember when my family moved to Scotland in 2006, I was three months away from my 14th birthday, and as soon as one of the neighbours found out my age she said to my mother, "oh, do you think she'd be interested in babysitting?" But I guess the difference there is that my parents would've been right next door in case of emergencies.

 

[elliebeebee]

That's very sensible! However, I live in a very small town so most people at the primary school and church know me well because of my mother.

 

[epona]

not unless they were related to me

otherwise no, i just wouldn't trust someone that's practically still a child to look after my kids for me and would opt for someone around the 17/18 mark instead

 

[Leela]

I think the minimum age I'd go for is 16 (and I'm not even 16 yet). As Tina said, I've babysat for people I know well before but only because they lived next door to us, so my parents would be there in case of an emergency. I think even if you're maturer than the average person of your age, people don't want to take the chance of hiring a young teenager in case something goes wrong, especially if it means their children are at risk.

That being said, there might be people willing to hire you anyway. You'll probably have a better chance a couple of years down the line though.

 

[Tao]

Pretty much an absolute no.

From the kids around that age that I've seen, I wouldn't trust them to look after a rock, let alone another human being. It surprises me that most of them can even dress themselves. Not to say all people that age are like this but I've seen enough of them to know I would rather not trust them to do anything.


I would only let somebody related to me do so, or maybe a relative of a friend. With this though I would obviously already trust them enough to consider asking them in the first place.




This being said, learning first aid etc for this purpose and mentioning it in the actual advertisement would probably help out a lot since that's 100% more than what most people would do, which would probably help people have a bit more faith in you. Also not turning up dressed in trackies and say "yareet maaaaate, weeerz ya kid den?". I don't expect you would but like I said, I have low expectations of British kids.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to at least try it if you want to at any rate, I just wouldn't expect many people actually asking.

 

[FancyThat]

I used to babysit children in my family from the age of 13, but I think it's different when it's family. I wouldn't want a young teen babysitting for me tbh.

 

[Fearthecuteness]

Yeah I don't think I would hire a 14 year old to babysit my kid. Even one I knew.

 

[Mega_Cabbage]

Not really... I think a person should learn how to take care of themselves before taking care of another person.

 

[Brackets]

Edit: Also that "I'm mature for my age" thing is bull****. :x Not to offend you, 'cause I said the exact same thing when I was like 12, but really, maturity is just something that comes with "growing up"/puberty...

nah people can definitely have different degrees of maturity at the same age. I never thought I was, but my little sister is ridiculously mature for her age.

As for the question, it depends on the person. If i knew them and trusted them and knew they weren't an idiot, then sure.

 

[Colour Bandit]

No, I'd rather have an adult babysit so that if something happened they would be able to drive or actually have some knowledge on how to look after a child, most 14 year olds I know lack the patience to look after a child or know how to cook for a child. Plus if something bad did happen and the police had to be called I don't think they would be happy with a parent leaving a child with another child!
Heck my parents wouldn't let me babysit my brother until last year when I turned 18 and by that point he didn't really need me to look after him since he was 16, when we were younger either my grandparents, one of my aunts or one of my mum's friends would look after us.

 

[Leela]

I think the minimum age I'd go for is 16 (and I'm not even 16 yet). As Tina said, I've babysat for people I know well before but only because they lived next door to us, so my parents would be there in case of an emergency. I think even if you're maturer than the average person of your age, people don't want to take the chance of hiring a young teenager in case something goes wrong, especially if it means their children are at risk.

That being said, there might be people willing to hire you anyway. You'll probably have a better chance a couple of years down the line though.

Adding to what I said earlier, you might have a better chance of finding customers if you get the opportunity to babysit and do it successfully. A lot of parents will recommend babysitters to friends, and advice from a trusted friend could help people overcome the fact that you're younger than most babysitters. Of course, you'll need to find someone willing to hire you in the first place for that to happen.

If you decide to become a babysitter, good luck

 

[elliebeebee]

Thank you! It does help that my family is quite well known and very trusted at the school and church.

 

[CR33P]

only if my kids were 9+ and if i knew you

 

[Kaai Yuki]

If they knew you well and you lived near each other yes. If you didn't maybe. But you seem like a very responsible person since you're advertising and taking classes. So If I knew all this I certainly would.

 

[FireNinja1]

I'm an American, but realistically, no. I'm probably just as old as you (13 turning 14 in a month or so) and I feel nowhere near responsible enough to take care of a young child, even with the specific education my school provides on child development and babysitting. this is not meant to indirectly brag or express my thoughts on my school's teaching in a negative way either, js) I also don't feel that a good majority of my school would be trusted in taking care of a toddler or preschool age child.