THE CHILDREN

OF THE KEY

WHO ARE THEY?

• Every day, thousands of children go

home after school and spend the
afternoon alone because their
parents work until the end of the day.
They are known as “the children of
the key" because since very early
ages, their parents hang them the
key of the house in their neck.

WHY ARE THEY ALONE?

• Since women joined the labor sector, they

have been neglecting the lives of housewives

and child care, to join men in all day jobs and

coming home tired. This leaves children,

whose parents work until late hours, alone

most part of the day

• In some countries it is against the law to leave

a child under the age of 15 alone more than

an estimated period of time. Instead, in Spain

more than 400.000 children under this age are

left by their selves, while almost 150.000 of

them are ages between 6 and 10 years old.

CONSEQUENCES

• Reduction of school

performance and attendance in

the classroom :

Small children: They pay less attention in

class and they do not study after school since

they don’t have any type of parental control.

The consequences are worse marks and bad

behavior.

Teenagers: They stop attending all the

classes, since they prefer staying in the streets

with their friends, the show less interest for

anything that has to do with studies.

Less interest in studies and in

the future:

Small children:

They arrive home

and instead of

studying and doing

their homework,

they sit in front of

the TV or the

computer for hours.

Teenagers: Once they

finish school they stay

in the streets with their

gangs, with whom they

spend the rest of the

day. Apart from that,

each year, more than

half a million young

people leave school

without having obtained

a high school diploma,

which is the minimum

needed to compete in

the job market or

without the community

support they need to

enter a constructive role

in society.

• Food problems:

obesity, anorexia and

bulimia

Small children: When they

arrive home, children don’t

find their parents, but they

find many unhealthy foods,

or go with the few currencies

that have at the corner store

to buy sweets and candies.

The 'Children of the key'

shape a generation of obese

children suffering from

diabetes.

Teenagers:

eating problems

among teenagers

are most shown in

girls. It is an age of

mental and physical

changes and not

having a degree of

control by parents

often leads to limits

as anorexia and

bulimia.

• Feelings of loneliness and

abandonment: "Nobody cares

about me"

These children have great feelings of

loneliness and abandonment, they can

even reach the conviction that their parents

do not want them. Some are incapable of

love, because they do not feel loved and no

one has taught them to love. It is an

affective-emotional instability. This is when

protest conducts of rebellion or indiscipline,

or states of isolation, sadness and

depression appear.

• "My father is not who to tell me

which friends are good for me and
which aren’t, when he doesn’t even
know who I am"

• Changes in sleep:

Psychologists say that there could be

many of effects on children of the key
under 12 years: anxiety avoidance, which
are isolated and avoid facing any situation
that they find stressful; crisis anguish that
can exist with visual disturbances such as
hallucinations and small deformation of
real images, and disorders of adaptation,
caused by not living the role that
corresponds with their age.

• Natalia, eight years old, waited every

afternoon the arrival of his mother at a
neighbor's house who had a daughter of
her same age and in her same school. His
parents believed that she had a boundless
imagination because, according to the girl,
all of the dolls in her room, moved and
spoke. Later she began to see "witches
and bad characters' and often woke up
crying at night scared.

Increase of the level of vandalism and

crime among youngsters

Since they have never

counted with the control of

their parents, children start to

drink and consume drugs

earlier each year. A study in

1990 indicated that eighth

graders who were home alone

after school reported a higher

use of snuff, alcohol and

marijuana than those who were

supervised by adults. The

“children of the key” spend

most of their time in the streets

with their gangs, and start

drinking alcohol very young.

Every week there are more

cases in which teenagers

between 13 and 15 years old

arrive to hospitals many time

unconscious by alcohol abuse.

The problem is that the

youngsters do not know to

control, and they drink for

fun not knowing the limits.

Many psychologists say,

that “children of the key”,

drink to forget the

loneliness they feel, or to

draw attention because

they feel abandoned. This

along with the violence

that is constantly

transmitted on television,

causes the growth of

violence and youth

vandalism. Furthermore,

studies shows that youth

vandalism is much higher

during the hours in which

“the children of the key”

are alone

.

HOW TO SOLVE THIS

PROBLEM

PARENTS:

There are many

issues and potential dangers

that parents should consider

before exposing the child to

that situation. Parents should

consider the following:

• The child's age.

• The definition of

parents' rules and

expectations.

• How the children

can contact them or other

adults (e.g. phone numbers).

• Dangerous situations

(e.g., medical emergencies,

fire, alcohol, drugs,

strangers, fire alarms, etc.).

• When and how to answer the phone or

doorbell.

• Using the telephone.

• Friends and visitors who come to the

house.

• Responsibilities to the brothers.

• How to spend unstructured time (eg,

watching television, videos, etc.).

• Access to cable television channels for

adults.

GOVERNMENT

For children who are left

alone the government offers

an extra set of activities based

both in sports and in Studies.

The main problem is that

funding for activities outside of

school is aimed primarily at

younger children, leaving older

children and teenagers very

lacking.

Many schools also offer

extra hours of childcare. This is

known in Spain as “the firsts in

class" as the school opens its

doors before the start of

classes so that parents who go

to work early, can leave their

children.

There are also centers where children of

all ages can go after school and spend the

hours that they want, without having to pay

to do what they want. They practice activities

such as studying, playing any sport, painting,

listening to music, or just meet with friends.

These centers are designed so that the child

does not feel forced to do anything, and to

call their attention showing them that they

can do whatever thy want, but it prevents

these children from being in the street or

drinking, smoking and committing vandalism

in the case of teenagers.

• Indeed, a long-term study of effective

programs for young people revealed that

young people participating in programs for

more than two years were more self-

control and self-respect, less involved in

violence and crime, and with higher hopes

and aspirations for their future .

• Young people are not the only ones

benefited from the after-school programs.

These positive effects extend to families,

employers and communities. Studies have

shown that investment in programs for

after-school youth can be translated into

benefits that justify its costs fully.