When is it OK to let kids walk home from school alone?

Every new school year bring new freedoms -- and responsibilities.

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Rebecca Wilson / AP file

New school year, new rules? How do you decide when your kids will walk to school alone, and other school-related freedoms?

Is this the year your child walks to school by himself? The year you take a hands-off policy and trust her to get homework done on her own? When is it OK to let a kid come home to an empty house? Do you pick their clothes each day or let them express their unique fashion sense?

Parenting.com and TODAY are teaming up to survey parents on when you let your kids take on more school-related responsibility. Click on this link to take the survey.

And TODAY Moms would love to hear more about how you decide when the time is right for these various milestones. Do you go by what your kids' friends are doing? What your own parents did? Do you have in-depth discussions about it, or just go with your gut? Please take the survey, then share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Discuss this post

I believe children aged 12-13-year-old nowadays are mature enough to take things on their ways. And they can also manage things, even when they're parents aren't home. However, we should not always take the risk, especially if it concerns the safety of our kids. So, I guess this article that I've found by anationofmoms about a service that can protect your family via your cell phone. I'm positive that it will help us parents, monitor our kids even if were not around. Moreover, at the bottom, there is an opportunity to enter a drawing for 6 months of that service just by liking them on Facebook. You might find it interesting:

    Reply#1 - Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:39 PM EST
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