Dear Jasmine,
I think my brother is having trouble at school because sometimes I don’t see him in school. My parents don’t get home until late at night and sometimes I am at home by myself when my brother is supposed to be watching me. He told me to tell my parents that he was doing something when they would call so he wouldn’t get in trouble. I am not sure where he goes or what he is doing but he gets home before my parents get home. What do you think I should do? I don’t want to get my brother into trouble but I don’t like being at home by myself all the time either.
Tim K.
Portland, OR
Dear Tim,
I think the first thing you need to do is let your parents know what is going on because it is not safe for you to be at home by yourself, nor is it safe for your brother to be out without your parents knowing where he is at. Your brother needs to learn to be responsible and take care of his responsibility. If your brother doesn’t want to watch you all the time, he could work something out with your parents sometimes where he is allowed to go out and you could stay with a friend or relative. Whatever the case may be you should not be staying at home by yourself unsupervised.
Always here,
Jasmine
