Our world is scary whether they are younger children or even teens and up! You just have to teach her the rules and what to do in certain situations. At 10, she's old enough to walk home from school. You said it's nearby. I was walking home at 9 with my kindergarten age sister. Of course that was the 80's, but there were crazy people then too! I'm not working right now, still in school, so I've arranged classes where I can still pick mine up. At times, that's a total pain with the carpool lines-they could sometimes walk home faster! But, there are occasions where they have to be home alone for a couple hours, and they know the routine, to keep the doors locked and have emergency numbers on the refrigerator and do fine! I will tell you that my ex brother in law called the police once when he was mad at my step-sister and told them that she was leaving their son who was 2 with her 12 or 13 year old sister while she worked during the day(it was summertime), and they said that if my step-sister felt her sister was adequate and able to watch the child there was nothing they could do, she wasn't breaking any law! I've left my younger kids with my 11 year old daughter who is perfectly capable of watching them for a couple hours on different occasions, in fact-she is better at watching them than my 14 year old son! And, it's my decision and I feel comfortable with it, and that's where the decision lies-with me! People who neglect their children, leave very young children alone, or with obviously inadequate caregivers are the one's who can and should get in trouble.