What Would Happen To Illinois Parents For A Real-Life Home Alone?

Depending on your age when you first saw "Home Alone," you may have thought to yourself that Kevin's parents probably would have gotten into a lot more trouble in real life than they did in the movie for leaving an 8 year old kid behind while they flew off to Paris on holiday.

As someone old enough to remember seeing the movie Home Alone in the theater, I recall as we exited afterwards, I overheard a woman say to her husband "If you and I did something like that, and left our kid behind at home while we went on vacation, we'd be going to jail!"

I recall thinking that she should probably lighten up a bit, because after all, it's just a movie. I never thought for a moment that she might be right.

But she was.

Mr. And Mrs. McAllister Clearly Violated Illinois Law When They Left Kevin Behind

Sure, it was all an accident. After all, the McAllisters were basically wrangling a classroom of kids for the family's trip to Paris, and mistakes can happen when you're overwhelmed as a parent. However, innocent mistake or not, they quite clearly broke Illinois law.

As IllinoisPolicy.org points out:

Illinois State law considers it neglect or abuse when “any minor under the age of 14 years whose parent or other person responsible for the minor’s welfare leaves the minor without supervision for an unreasonable period of time without regard for the mental or physical health, safety, or welfare of that minor.”

I Don't Know About Your Family, But My Mom And Dad Broke That Law, Too

I hate to chuck my parents under the bus on this one, but it's true. In the Home Alone movie, Kevin McAllister is said to be 8 years old, so to be fair I'll admit that my parents didn't leave me alone at that age. They waited until I was 10 before doing it.

I was occasionally left overnight while they traveled, and I was left home alone for a few days at a time here and there when I reached the age of 12. Everything was fine during these infrequent trips, but now I know that my folks were looking at serious trouble if it hadn't been.

Illinois' Law Is The Strictest In The Entire Country

IllinoisPolicy.org, in their piece on this topic, says that Illinois with an age limit of 14 years and under, has a higher age limit than anyone else in the United States:

The highest age for a child to be left alone in other states is 12, and 30 states don’t have any age restrictions on leaving kids at home. Illinois parents can temporarily lose custody simply on allegations. However, the law doesn’t define “an unreasonable period of time.” Is an hour unreasonable? Two hours? It’s completely up to the interpretation of government employees, opening up potential to abuse the rule.

When you think about it, it's not just Kevin's mom and dad who would be looking at charges for the Home Alone incident. Several people would be looking at jail time: