I have to admit to being one of the parents most people consider anal and overprotective. My 14 yr old son has just recently begun to show me that he can handle the responsibility of being left alone for more than an hour. I will not, however, leave him in charge of my younger two sons (ages 10 and 11) for longer than that hour. Why? Because they're boys. Because they scrap like puppies some days. Because things happen. Because I can't control the sickos out in the world today. My middle son prefers not to be left home alone, ever. My youngest would have been staying home alone at 3 if we'd have let him! I grew up unsupervised, for the most part. I was 9 when my younger brother was born and I basically raised him---he went on sleepovers with me, on my first date with me, etc. My mother was either working or drinking in a bar and that left us to our own devices. I was, and continue to be, very independent and most likely TOO independent. I'm grateful for that aspect of it (one of those "take what you can use and throw the rest back" situations) but I can't tell you I ever felt loved, protected or cared for in my youth. Things today are a little more extreme than they were when I was a kid. And while one day my sons may want to have words with me over my parenting style, I'd rather it be that I was too protective than that I wasn't protective enough. I think it's a personal choice for each parent and depends on everything from their own lives to the environment they're raising their kiddos in.