At what age can children be left alone in the Canaries?

[caroledowner]

i live on a residential complex and the rules are as most other complexes
no noise after 11pm but children are running around screaming until
past midnight. the president says he can do nothing about it.
i spoke to a few of the children whom were no more than 10 years
some seemed to be no older than 4, i asked them where were their
parents they told me their parents were working til 2am some til 6am
does anyone know at
a. what age children can be left alone
b. what age are children deemed to be old enough to look after younger children.
c. are the confines of a complex deemed to be private and therefore safe for children
of any age to stay outside the at any hour, or do they have to be actually inside there home.
the complex is made up of canarian/italian and british

[KirstyJay]

I'm not sure of the laws, but you may find that some canarian children have family that live close by whom they can contact quickly.

There are kids in my road that I know are about 10 and 5. They are left alone while parents are at work, with the older one looking after the younger one, but their grandparents are in the house next door.

[caroledowner]

I'm not sure of the laws, but you may find that some canarian children have family that live close by whom they can contact quickly.

There are kids in my road that I know are about 10 and 5. They are left alone while parents are at work, with the older one looking after the younger one, but their grandparents are in the house next door.

i understand that in some small comunities it is generally excepted that neighbors and nearby family watch the children whist parents work but i am talking about very young children running amok with no other family living near to watch them through the night.
i am hoping someone knows what the actual law is so i can inform all parents that i know they are breaking the law even though the canarians may already know. you might say this is not my business and believe me i wish could turn a blind eye. these children are at risk, i have seen men who do not live on the complex here at night making friends with the children, i was informed by another resident that she had heard one of these men ask some of the girls to expose themselves whilst taking photos, she did warn the girls mother but the girls mother laughed it off, as a single young mum maybe she has other activities on her mind.
i dont want the parents to get into trouble with the police as i realise they need to work but i want to stop very young children being in a vunerable position

[caroledowner]

so does anybody know apart from the police if there is a childrens protection agency here in tenerife as i fear children at vista hermosa 4 in los cristianos are in danger from p***philes it is not a secure complex holiday lets are rife.

[KirstyJay]

so does anybody know apart from the police if there is a childrens protection agency here in tenerife as i fear children at vista hermosa 4 in los cristianos are in danger from p***philes it is not a secure complex holiday lets are rife.I did a search on the net regarding laws, and the only thing I came up with was that there is no actual defined age in the law and that people are expected to make their own judgement call.

There's this PDF on child protection : http://www.msc.es/ssi/familiasInfancia/docs/serviciosProteccionInfanciaCCAA.pdf

Or you could alert the local Social workers at the ayuntamiento you belong to. As you've not mentioned which municipality the complex is in, I can't help there. You'll have to search yourself.

Here's info on the Canarian Organisation : http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/estorg/ver-unidad-organica.jsp?id=7902

[Angusjim]

i live on a residential complex and the rules are as most other complexes
no noise after 11pm but children are running around screaming until
past midnight. the president says he can do nothing about it.
i spoke to a few of the children whom were no more than 10 years
some seemed to be no older than 4, i asked them where were their
parents they told me their parents were working til 2am some til 6am
does anyone know at
a. what age children can be left alone
b. what age are children deemed to be old enough to look after younger children.
c. are the confines of a complex deemed to be private and therefore safe for children
of any age to stay outside the at any hour, or do they have to be actually inside there home.
the complex is made up of canarian/italian and british

This is an amazing thread that no one wants to take part in, if the heading was UK instead on Canaries it would have had 100's of replies slating parents in the UK and the UK in general as a disgrace. Why no condemnation about this ? does not matter what the law says is it's completely wrong for kids of this age running about at that time of night and the parents are a disgrace for allowing this to happen.

[KirstyJay]

I know the head social worker in Guia de Isora personally, as I teach her and her kids English... but this may not be under her jurisdiction if it's in another municipality...

I do know that she will be off work from the 24th July for summer, and I assume this will be true of all municipalities, as most people do not work in August, so if you're going to act on this, it needs to be this week, or it'll be impossible to get anything done until September.

[Suej]

This is an amazing thread that no one wants to take part in, if the heading was UK instead on Canaries it would have had 100's of replies slating parents in the UK and the UK in general as a disgrace. Why no condemnation about this ? does not matter what the law says is it's completely wrong for kids of this age running about at that time of night and the parents are a disgrace for allowing this to happen.

Well I'll chip in! don't like to be seen as a whingeing Brit though!:ashamed: we have two Spanish/Canarian neighbours both with 3/4 year olds that scream and cry and generally run amock until after midnight dunno what they feed their kids on but they appear to be extremely hyperactive!!! Can't understand the parents mentality allowing such young children to even be up that late!

[KirstyJay]

Well I'll chip in! don't like to be seen as a whingeing Brit though!:ashamed: we have two Spanish/Canarian neighbours both with 3/4 year olds that scream and cry and generally run amock until after midnight dunno what they feed their kids on but they appear to be extremely hyperactive!!! Can't understand the parents mentality allowing such young children to even be up that late!I agree. I am often amazed how late the Canarian children are allowed to stay up...

I understand that there are cultural differences and they may have a siesta (a lot of older kids still do this), but 11pm for a small child?! regarless of whether they have a siesta... it'd do MY head it not having any ME time at the end of the day. I love my kids and thankfully, I have really good ones that are no trouble, but I still need SOME peace at the end of the day ;)

[Suej]

I agree. I am often amazed how late the Canarian children are allowed to stay up...

I understand that there are cultural differences and they may have a siesta (a lot of older kids still do this), but 11pm for a small child?! regarless of whether they have a siesta... it'd do MY head it not having any ME time at the end of the day. I love my kids and thankfully, I have really good ones that are no trouble, but I still need SOME peace at the end of the day ;)

We have an English family live on the level below us and the children are around one at 3yrs and a toddler! they make very good use their lungs during the day but by by 8pm you don't hear a peep out of them as they seem to be tucked up in bed! where they should be! As you say Kirsty it appears to be more a culture thing!:)

[Santiago]

This is an amazing thread that no one wants to take part in, if the heading was UK instead on Canaries it would have had 100's of replies slating parents in the UK and the UK in general as a disgrace. Why no condemnation about this ? does not matter what the law says is it's completely wrong for kids of this age running about at that time of night and the parents are a disgrace for allowing this to happen.

I'll chip in too! I am always surprised at how late children stay up when we visit Tenerife. To be fair it is not only the Canarian children, I have seen holidaymakers pushing unhappy toddlers in push chairs late into the evening, or sitting in bars and cafe's with small children in tears. Whether these people are right or wrong is a matter for their own conscience and at least they haven't left their children while they go out to enjoy themselves. I don't think any children under twelve should be left alone in an apartment/villa/house in any country irrespective of whether they have relatives next door or not.
It is far too easy to have a serious accident in a house and by the time a person in an adjacent property has been told - it may be too late!

[willowlily]

thank you for all your replies, i am not complaining about the noise level, but the safety of these children, which and even culturally seems an unbelievable situation where as a concerned adult i am finding it impossible to get any form of back up even from the administration whom is toothless on any matter pertaining to the rules of the complex. the president and vice presidents children are also unsupervised.

[KirstyJay]

No one has mentioned what municipality the complex is in yet....

[Red Devil]

so does anybody know apart from the police if there is a childrens protection agency here in tenerife as i fear children at vista hermosa 4 in los cristianos are in danger from p***philes it is not a secure complex holiday lets are rife.

That'll be Arona then

[KirstyJay]

That'll be Arona thenThanks.. missed that. :)

Here is their web page : http://www.arona.org/portal/ldes_d10_v1.jsp?codMenu=320&codMenuPN=1457&codMenuSN=111&codResi=1&language=es

Here's the person in charge : http://www.arona.org/portal/fdes_d4_v1.jsp?codMenu=1741&codMenuPN=1473&codMenuSN=1474&codMenuTN=1487&codResi=1&language=es

Here's info about your local offices : http://www.arona.org/portal/floc_d4_v1.jsp?codMenu=1752&codMenuPN=1457&codMenuSN=662&codMenuTN=661&codResi=1&language=es

and this is what it says about child protection :


Medidas de protección de riesgo a menores y familia

Equipos interdisciplinares que ofertan servicios especializados y constituyen el nivel de atención secundario al menor y su familia en su entorno desde el sistema público de servicios sociales para hacer efectiva la medida protectora de riesgo que establece el artículo 41 de la Ley 1/1997.

Equipos territoriales de riesgo.

Objetivos:

Llevar a cabo las labores técnicas de investigación y diagnóstico precisas para el desarrollo del oportuno expediente de comprobación de la posible situación de riesgo de los/las menores cuya situación de posible riesgo haya sido detectada, denunciada o comunicada al ayuntamiento.
Llevar a cabo, con los/las menores bajo la medida protectora de riesgo y sus familias actuaciones tendentes a la disminución de los factores de riesgo y de promoción de los factores de protección del menor y de su familia mediante el desarrollo de la ejecución de las medidas de asistencia que establece el artículo 43 de la Ley 1/1997, para lograr:
Evitar que los/las menores bajo la medida protectora de riesgo sean separados del medio familiar por la aplicación de una medida de amparo.
Evitar que los/las menores bajo la medida protectora de riesgo que estén en tránsito o ya insertos en un proceso definido de marginación por la comisión de hechos constitutivos de delito sean reincidentes.

Which translates as :



Measures to protect children and families at risk

Interdisciplinary teams that offer specialised services and constitute the level of care secondary to the child and family in their environment from the social services system enforce the protective measure of risk provided for in Article 41 of Law 1/1997. (whatever that means?!)

Territorial risk teams.

objectives:

Perform the technical research of investigation and precise diagnostics for the development of appropriate record checks for the possible risks to children when the situation is detected, reported or communicated to the council.
Undertake actions with the child under protective measures and their families to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors of the children and their families through the development and the implementation of assistance measures provided for in Article 43 of Law 1/1997, to include:
Prevent children at risk to be separated from the family environment and the implementation of protective measures.
Prevent children at riskof a situation wehere they can be victims of committed crimes (?) or becoming repeat offenders (? I think... not too sure on this one).


Hope that helps.

[caroledowner]

VISTA HERMOSA 4 LOS CRISTIANOS
last night at approx midnight i could not sleep because of the children running amok even noise though the rules of the complex are no noise after 10pm. when i had previously had spoken with the administrators they said there was nothing they could do when parents dont supervise their children.
i had an idea, if you cant beat them join them so i started to shout in spanish to all you parents in vista hermosa 4 why should you leave your children to keep me awake outside my flat, why dont they make a noise outside your flat. an italian man it was his day off told me to be quiet i told him if i am unable to sleep why should you parents sleep, two days ago when he and his wife were working i found his 9 year old daughter running around screaming with the older boys 14-16 years, after midnight i asked her where she live took her home no reply she then opened the door with her own keys do these parents not know what their kid are doing when they work til late at night