The Union County Health Department, Marysville Schools, Pregnancy Care Center, Community Services Association, Union County Parent Education Committee, and the Union County Foundation recently came together to sponsor a program to train fourth and fifth graders to stay home for short periods of time without supervision.

The program is called S.H.A.R.K., Safe Home and Responsible Kid.  It is the creation of Mindy Stice and Kim Chapman, with the Union County Health Department .

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For five dollars, parents signed up their children to go thru a three hour training program Thursday, June 11, 2009 at a Marysville school.

At the program the kids were split up into seven sessions; basic first aid, internet safety, safety at home, severe weather safety, safe snacks, home calamity, and fire safety.

The students learned everything from fixing an electric outage at the breaker box, how to unclog a toilet, to using a fire extinguisher to put out fires. 

Most parents say the home tips are very helpful for the kids and for them.   "The parents are real impressed with the home calamity.  Many of them say 'I don't even know where the fuse box is' or 'I don't know how to turn off the water', " Stice said.

The S.H.A.R.K. program started in 1999 but the group was unable to put on the event for a couple of years due to lack of funding.  But this year it decided to do it anyway.  "This group got together and decided we're going to do it whether we have the money or not," Stice said.

Since all stations were staffed by volunteers, this year's event was basically funded with zero dollars.  The only cost was the cost of the fire extinguishers which was about $750 according to Stice.

Determining if your child is ready to stay home alone is a case by case basis.  The child may be intellectually ready to stay home, especially after training in the S.H.A.R.K. program but Stice suggests the child must be emotionally ready as well.  Her advice is to simply ask your child if they feel comfortable staying home alone and then make sure they know all the safe protocols to having a safe and healthy home.

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