<p>@cobrat - I could manage myself and also guy friends, which happened often. But, when girls were involved, there was an adult around somewhere close enough. </p>
<p>" I can’t imagine in a million years my son Skyping with a group of 7th graders when he was a junior in HS. "</p>
<p>I understand your concern because you have a DD and there may be something to worry about since she is a girl. However I have to say my DS who is a college freshman sometimes skypes or plays online games with my 7th grade DS and his friends or DS and his college friends play online games with my 7th grader. It just depends on who is online and what game they are playing. </p>
<p>MichiganGeorgia- Thanks for presenting it in another light. My son wasn’t really a gamer and he never played online with other kids after 6th grade. So, I don’t really have a reference point for on-line gaming. :)</p>
<p>On-line gaming really is a great age equalizer. Back when my son played warcraft he would play with people that were in middle school and people my age. </p>
<p>Since I started babysitting at 12 and HAD 12 year-old baby-sitters for my own kids, I see no problem with leaving 12 and older by themselves for the evening. Perhaps it has to do with where you live and perceived safety.
I’ll echo others here–the on-line gaming community has a pretty wide range of ages. My son played Warcraft with kids in other countries–lots of fun–it became an on-line cultural exchange.</p>
<p>I have also been babysitting from very young and our kids insisted on us leaving them WITHOUT a sitter from when S was around age 11 or 12 (& D 2 years younger). They preferred being on their own to having a sitter and never had any problems, nor did we (except the first time, when our dear neighbor popped his head at the window and scared them–he was just trying to be sure things were fine with them). Our neighborhood is quiet and very safe, with great neighbors who are nearly always home on all sides of us.</p>