Are Tween Babysitters Able to Deal with Emergencies?

A new study released this weekend by the American Academy of Pediatrics had some mixed results about tween-age babysitters:

• 40 percent of babysitters between the ages of 11 to 13 say they had left children unattended while babysitting, and 
• 20 percent say they opened the door to strangers. 

The good news is that of the surveyed tween babysitters:

• 98 percent knew how to reach the emergency contact
• 92 percent knew the location of the first aid supplies
• 85 percent knew who to contact if a child was poisoned
• 64 percent knew where the fire extinguishers were located

The AAP surveyed 727 tweens, 51 percent who had taken a professional first aid class, 47 percent had taken a CPR class, and 19 percent had Red Cross Babysitting Certification. (Full disclosure: Ms. Twixt's eldest tween babysits and is Red Cross certified.)

Does your tween babysit? Does she have formal training? What's her level of confidence to handle an emergency? What's yours?

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