There are a number of important points parents should consider prior to allowing their child to be unsupervised after school.

Parents need to assess their child. Does he or she have the self-confidence, and judgment skills to accept this responsibility? Will the experience be positive and help build and enhance the child's self image or will the experience promote additional anxiety in the child who may be afraid to stay alone? Having a family conference to discuss the arrangement is a good place to start. House rules, expectations of both parent and child, and a daily routine can be defined. At the end of the day, parents can also use the experience to have regular family meetings to help ensure that the arrangements is still working and identify any alterations that need to be made.

Here are some steps that you and your children can take to help ensure a positive- after school experience.

• Determine if there are other community resources or organizations providing after school care or support.
• Ask your child how he or she feels about being alone
• Determine how long your child will be alone, how accessible you or another trusted adult will be in case of an emergency

Make sure you've set specific rules that are to be followed by your child while he or she is alone and give your child specific instructions on how to reach you at all times. This should also include information on what to do if your child needs assistance and can't reach you right away.

Once you've decided to proceed, you should check to make sure your child knows:

• The full name, address, and telephone number of an emergency contact such as a friend or neighbor
• Your full name, the exact name of the place where your work, your working telephone number, and any pager or cellular telephone numbers that you may have
• How to make a telephone call to request help in any case of emergency