Yesterday, kid from across the street knocked on my door, crying. Her electronic key had stopped working and she couldn’t get into her house. I replaced the battery and she got in safely. It seems she hasn’t told her mother. Should I tell the mother?

Need advice from parents.First, it’s very normal here for young kids (as young as 5) to walk alone, to and from school, or even shop for groceries.Also, I’ll mention I teach English in my home and the kid in question and her 5-year-old sister are two of my students. I have the mom’s e-mail and phone number and she’s a friendly and reasonable person.Yesterday, the 7-year-old girl from across the street rang my doorbell. I looked at the monitor but couldn’t see anyone. I was making a lesson plan at the time and ignored it. 5 minutes later, it rang again. It was about 4:30 PM and getting dark.I opened the door and it was the 7-year-old kid from across the street. She was crying. I asked what was wrong and she said her key wasn’t working and she couldn’t get into her house. I went across the street to her house and asked if she had the key. She showed it to me and it was electronic. I noticed a screw on the back and the size of the key reminded me of the remote control for my Christmas lights, the battery of which I had just replaced last week.Whether it was the right decision or not, I don’t know, but my first instinct was to try replacing the battery. If they didn’t work, I was planning to call the mom on her cell, although she was at work. If that had failed, I would have walked with the kid to the police station (5 minutes away) and waited there with her.I told the girl to wait while I got a screwdriver and battery. Ran back to my house, got the items, ran back, opened the key and replaced the battery. Fortunately it was the right size and the key worked. So I told the girl it was okay now . She was still sniffling but seemed relieved. I waited until she was safely inside before returning home.The mother usually gets home around 5:30 or 6:00. I was expecting the mother to e-mail or call me thanking me but then realized the girl probably didn’t tell her mother. She might think she’ll get in trouble, even though it’s not her fault her key battery died.I don’t blame the mother because she probably didn’t expect the battery to die like that. The girl is 1st year elementary school so it’s probably her first year coming home alone and I imagine the key is relatively new.Now I’m wondering whether I should tell the mother what happened. I imagine the kid doesn’t want her mom to know because she is afraid of getting in trouble. Seeing as I’m teaching them, I don’t want her to feel like she can’t trust me anymore. On the other hand, I feel the mother needs to know what happened so she can prevent in the future.I also want to make sure the mother doesn’t think I’m blaming her. Basically, I want to maintain trust with both parties and make sure her kid can get home safely in the future too.Parents, what should I do? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/35HkF24