大象传媒

Call 08459 811111 (local rate), email julia@bbc.co.uk or text 81333 (start your message with KENT).

A Kent mother has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for leaving her six-year-old child alone for nearly five days.

28-year-old Natalie Terry previously of Willow Road, Dartford,who recently moved to South Norwood in London, appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on January 12 charged with one count of child neglect and one count of failing to surrender to police, both of which she admitted.

On the big phone today, we ask if it is ever acceptable to leave your child at home alone?

Is eight too young to leave a child alone while you pop to the shops? Is ten too young to leave a child alone all evening? How old should a youngester be before they sleep in a house alone at night?

We hear your views and personal experiences.

Also on the programme, we encounter the extraordinary story of 19-year-old Joe Stribley from Maidstone. He was a dancer aboard the Costa Concordia when it struck rocks off the Italian isle Giglio.

Plunged into darkness and fearing for his life, we hear the traumatic tale of how Joe fought to find a way to escape with water gushing into the ship, eventually swimming to safety.

And the moment every parent dreads - when your child finally asks a question you cannot answer.

Have you ever felt embarassed by your intellectual shortcomings? Did you just laugh like a drain when your child asked a hilarious question?

We hear a collection of listeners' amusing anecdotes.

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