Would you let a 14 year old travel alone?

alenax

miamoo wrote: »

What if she got chatting to a lovely bloke/woman on the plane that was going to the same camp (supposedly), and offered to take her there?

As far as I'm aware, if you're under 16 then an airline representative accompanies you out to the hall to make sure you get passed on to whoever is supposed to be meeting you.

PolishBigSpender

alenax wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, if you're under 16 then an airline representative accompanies you out to the hall to make sure you get passed on to whoever is supposed to be meeting you.

Indeed. And if any adult on the flight claimed "oh no, don't worry, I'll take her" - the airline would certainly step in and refuse such a request. It's normal for unaccompanied minors to have to be collected by a set person at the 'other' end - they're aren't allowed to just wander off with some random they talked to on the flight!

(of course, today's British, paranoid, !!!!!phile-everywhere mentality would never allow common sense to rule their heads!).

If you don't believe me - how many children are abducted by !!!!!philes after travelling as unaccompanied minors? It just doesn't happen.

pelirocco

miamoo wrote: »

Is she met at the other end though? and where?
What if she got chatting to a lovely bloke/woman on the plane that was going to the same camp (supposedly), and offered to take her there?
kids dont always make the right decision, they are growing and developing common sense comes with age, she wouldnt be the first girl to go missing never to be seen again.

Adults make stupid descisions at times, so kids shouldnt be expected to be 100% sensible 100% of the time, going on a organised trip to china in a group is nothing like going to Canada on your own in my opinion.

The airline will only release them to the person authorised to collect them at the other end ( my son flew a few times unaccompanied as a minor)

shays_mum

Do your research, ask the school/look online for other people's thoughts, tbh if it was my one, no, as other posters have noted kids can't be expected to make 100% decisions, that's why they are kids!. Over here to work with kids you need to be crb checked etc etc, but who are they being met by?, what regulations are in place to safeguard your child?, its a long way away if something, god forbid, goes wrong. But ultimatly not all kids are the same, so you need to make an informed decision. Goodluck, HTH

shays_mum

"(of course, today's British, paranoid, !!!!!phile-everywhere mentality would never allow common sense to rule their heads!)."

I resent that remark, working in the field of safeguarding children, its got nothing to do with common sense, its about stopping problems before they get to the level that people are reading about such things in the paper.
Just because we British have structures in place to look after our children (unlike some places i could mention in Europe!) that does'nt give you the right to sit judgement & make disparaging remarks. You would be surprised how many philes are around more often than not its family & friends & the people you trust the most who are the ones who do the crime ......

Spendless

Yes I would let her. We also have family members in Canada, so on previous occassions we've certainly had the situation where child is put on the plane one end and collected by another. As said they are looked after by the aircraft staff.
We had a family friend's teenager from canada come and stay with us last year, and then we saw him on a plane to Germany, where he was collected by another family friend before being returned to us and then going home to Canada. It's not like they can get off at the wrong stop is it.:D

alenax

Spendless wrote: »

It's not like they can get off at the wrong stop is it.:D

Exactly, I think that's the main thing. When I was a kid, I used to fly alone regularly and was met at the check-in desk by an airline representative, whom my parents passed me on to, who then accompanied me all the way up to the plane, put me on my seat and when we landed, I was accompanied by another representative who walked me all the way to the arrivals hall and passed me on to a relative, who had to show ID to make sure they knew it was the same person that my parents said would be meeting me.

To be honest, I think going to Canada would be an amazing experience for a child - going to another country, meeting new people and they shouldn't be denied it just because of a parent worrying. I can understand why the OP would worry, it's completely natural, but you can't wrap your kids up in cotton wool forever, otherwise they'll make a lot of mistakes when they're finally out on their own in the big wide world.

If the OP does all the necessary checks, asks questions and keeps the advice given in this thread in mind then I don't see why her daughter can't go. If the camp is a reputable place then they will have necessary safeguarding procedures in place and I'm sure the daughter will love her parents for letting her go.

Zazen999

shays_mum wrote: »

"(of course, today's British, paranoid, !!!!!phile-everywhere mentality would never allow common sense to rule their heads!)."

I resent that remark, working in the field of safeguarding children, its got nothing to do with common sense, its about stopping problems before they get to the level that people are reading about such things in the paper.
Just because we British have structures in place to look after our children (unlike some places i could mention in Europe!) that does'nt give you the right to sit judgement & make disparaging remarks. You would be surprised how many philes are around more often than not its family & friends & the people you trust the most who are the ones who do the crime ......

Exactly, so she would be safe as houses on a plane journey.

shays_mum

My concern would not be on the plane journey as staff will need to be vetted to uk standards, its the camp staff etc that i would be looking at. Just because i mentioned family etc, that doesn't mean that every adult stranger is therefore safe.....its a hard balance for any parent to strike without being hysterical about - inc me!!.
I base some of my experience on some of the summer holiday camps i have seen here, its literally young adults (college/uni students) looking after kids, its makes me wonder how long it took to clear these ppl as normal crb checks ages, let alone the advanced one!

katieclampet

If she is sensible, you have checked out all the safety aspects, who will meet her etc, than I would say let her go.

However, If it was my child, I'm not sure what I would do! It is very easy to give advice when it is not your child!! Good luck with whatever you decide.

katiex