Children on board

I'M on the school pick-up run with two children in tow, and I need to drop into the shops.

I'M on the school pick-up run with two children in tow, and I need to drop into the shops.

As I head into the car park, the cry from the back seat is unanimous: "Can we wait in the car, Mum?"

If I leave them in the car, does that make me a bad parent? A criminal?

Clearly, you should never leave a baby alone in a car, but what about a primary school-aged child?

Should I let my nine-year-old walk - or even ride a bike - to the shops alone?

The laws around the supervision of children are far more blurry than I realised and, as Natasha Bita reports in today's cover story, parents are finding themselves on child neglect charges for things that many busy, loving mums and dads do all the time.