Snow days can send parents scrambling

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There are a lot of dangers involved in letting kids stay home alone.

By ED RUNYAN

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

There isn't a lot of warning when snow falls enough to cancel school, but school officials have begun trusting weather forecasters enough to cancel classes in advance when temperatures are in single digits and below.

Sunday afternoon, most public, parochial, private and charter schools in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys were already closing for Monday. Most were predicting the same for Tuesday, when temperatures are again predicted to be in the single digits.

Working parents, then, get some extra time to ponder the age-old question of what to do with the kids on a snow day if they are unable to supervise them on their own.

Several area experts and recreational directors offered some suggestions.

Diane Harris, a case worker for the Trumbull County Children's Services Board, suggests first and foremost that parents try to use the "buddy system" with friends and family to find someone who can supervise school-age children throughout the day.

Among possibilities worth exploring, she said, is contacting members of a family's church to see whether someone — possibly a retired person — might be able to help.

Kids need supervision

Darlene Shope, a supervisor with the agency, said she is unable to give a specific age at which a child is old enough to stay at home unsupervised, because every child and every family situation is different.

She noted there are a lot of dangers involved in letting kids stay home alone. One is that a child might try to go outside to play in weather that is too cold. Another is that the heating system might malfunction. A child probably won't know what to do in an emergency involving a heater, she added.

"Children need to have appropriate supervision. If not, that's where accidents and tragedies can occur," she warned.

Eric Buckingham, youth program director at the Davis Family YMCA on McClurg Road in Boardman, said the facility offers a supervised camp day that costs $25 for YMCA members and $50 for nonmembers. The camp is available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and includes swimming and other activities.

The last time the program was offered was on Martin Luther King Day, and about 20 children turned out, he said.

Other area Y's

The downtown Youngstown YMCA offers a guest pass to children ages 8 through 13 for $5 that's good from 9 to 11:30 a.m.; or $8 for kids age 14 and above from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Wendy Marvin, associate executive with the YMCA of Warren, said a handful of parents had dropped off school-age children at her facility starting early Monday. Parents can buy a $6 all-day pass for such children. The kids are not watched at all times, but can play in the gymnasium or swim in the pool, and the pool is monitored by a lifeguard, she said. The hours for the pass are 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the downtown Warren and Niles locations.

Marvin said she attempted to set up a program last year in which parents would register their children in advance to come use the facility on snow days, but the program didn't get much response.

Josephine Nolfi, manager of children's services at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, said the library system discourages parents from leaving children unattended at the library on a snow day, especially small ones.

But the library is a good place for parents to bring children on a snow day to break up the boredom of too much time at home, she said. Library branches offer a menu of varying activities, including story times, crafts and contests.

runyan@vindy.com

Tuesday, February 6, 2007