With a new school year underway, many parents and caregivers fret about latchkey children who spend time on their own before or after school. According to some estimates, more than three million kids under 12 are home alone at least part of the day. That’s inevitable given the number of single-parent households and families in which both parents work.

We all want our kids to be safe and secure, so we did a little research. Here are some basic tips to help make sure your kids know how to handle being home alone:

You can get various perspectives on this topic by typing “latchkey kids” into a search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo.

Finally, don’t worry that your children will suffer emotional or psychological damage by fending for themselves a few hours a week. According to one news story, a report cited by the American Psychological Association found that the success of latchkey kids depends more on what kids are doing with their time after school, rather than the fact that you’re not with them 24-7.