Teenagers travelling alone

barbaraemmerson

I had a 14 year old DD and we lived in Brunei - she flew home for the summer, changing planes in KL, Dubai and London before arriving in Aberdeen!!! We made sure she knew exactly what to do every step of the way - made sure all her flight plans were in order and away she went. Arrived just fine, had a wonderful summer then did the reverse to get back to us!! Once she had done it once she did it three times a year!!!

balletshoes

Jagraf wrote: »

At what age would you / do you let your teen:

Travel by national express on their own to visit a relative
Travel by train up and down the country
Travel by tube across London
Travel on a plane on their own (if dropped off and met the other end).

Bearing in mind legal requirements, would you let a relatively sensible 15/16 year old do all of the above.

yes i would, no question.

balletshoes

Kate/Bob wrote: »

I know it sounds like a cop out put it really does depend on the child.

I have 2 children, the 13 year old gets lost easily but the 10 year old can find his way between the 2 major shopping centres in town.

We have a tram system connecting us to town opening soon and I had hoped the oldest would be able to go with friends into Nottingham on it to shop, see films etc but it may have to wait.

you might already have it, but the tourist info office in the centre of Nottingham has some great free maps of the city centre, might help your teenager .

bouicca21

Jagraf, go for it. Sit back and worry (you won't be able to do anything but worry). Make her ring you to report safe arrival. You will be a nervous wreck. She however will be enjoying every minute of the independence and the knowledge that you trust her to be sensible. You do not of course let her know how equivocal you are about the whole thing. (Been there ...)

74jax

My DD traveled by train from Newcastle to Carlisle from the age of around 12. She's been inherent on buses from about 8-9.

silvercar

A lot of big city kids, particularly in London, are expected to take the tube and/or buses to secondary school. From the Summer holidays pre-secondary school they are taking such journeys. So we are talking age 11.

DigForVictory

I wouldn't let my 16 year old do it alone, but that's because he's an unstabilised epileptic.
I'd send him & the 14 y o brother & my old Nokia in a heartbeat.

It really does depend on the sheer horse sense of the individual.
You could initially ask for stop-by-stop texts? However the anxiety might be contagious.

fierystormcloud

If the train travelling up and down the country, is a case of a responsible adult puts them on the train at departure and a responsible adult meets the same train at the other end, then yes, at any age over 14...

But if we are talking about gallivanting around, changing trains, wandering around on lonely rural platforms, and not really knowing where they're going, then no, not until they are 18 (can't stop them then anyway!!!)

Flying on a plane alone would not sit well with me, until they were over 18, but that is just me, and I am not being critical of anyone who lets their child do it at 13/14 or so.

A National Express journey alone? At 14-15 yes; if they are being met at the bus station.

Tube across London isn't too hazardous is it? Maybe from 14...

I remember my good-as-gold demure little niece, turning into a little hellbat at 15.

She met some people on the internet who had the same hobby as her, as she went to a couple of get-togethers with them. At the city 30 miles from home the first time, and another city 45 miles from home the second time. Her father took her the first time, and it was a public open space, and she was instructed to not go off with any of them. He stayed in the city for the 3 hours she was there. The second time, her mother did the same; took her, and stayed while she was there.

She stayed in touch with these people, and then 3 months after first being in contact with them (bearing in mind they were mostly 18-24,) she wanted to go to a sleepover/party at the house of one of them... The house was 115 miles away, it was 2 changes on the train to get there, (with a 40 minute wait between 2 trains at one point, on a rather isolated outside rural platform,) and my sister and her husband didn't know this girl from Adam OR her family. Yet my niece who was 15, expected to go to this party - 115 miles away, with 2 dozen people aged 18 to 24, and stay with a family her parents had never even met. (And she expected to travel alone on the train, with 2 changes, on a route she had never been on, and also had to make her way to the girl's house at the other end, that was 5 miles from the station!)

They didn't let her go BTW!

She is 20 now, and travels the world with her friends, and lives with friends in a shared house near her uni -100 miles from home. That's fine; she is now 20 and can do what she wants. At 15, she could not do what she wanted, as she was under her parent's jurisdiction.

But at the end of the day, it is dependent on the individual and it is also up to the parents. There is no right or wrong.

thorsoak

My grandson (17) and my granddaughter (15) have travelled by plane from New York to London twice together, but on their own, if you know what I mean. But they are used to long-haul air travel since they were babies, so it's no great deal for them.

This summer, my granddaughter and her friend - also 15 - are flying over to London again, and I'll pick them up this end - first time for the two girls without grandson.

But in August - when grandson will just turn 18 - he will be flying to Seattle from his home in Connecticut - almost 3,000 miles - to start his course at Uni. That's a bit stomach-churning for me - none of his friends are going there so he will be completely on his own - but heigh ho - he has to go some time!

gettingtheresometime

Jagraf wrote: »

At what age would you / do you let your teen:

Travel by national express on their own to visit a relative
Travel by train up and down the country
Travel by tube across London
Travel on a plane on their own (if dropped off and met the other end).

Bearing in mind legal requirements, would you let a relatively sensible 15/16 year old do all of the above.

Goodness yes.

My son went up and down the country to travel to Sea Cadet courses when he was 13....so long as he remembered to phoned to say he had arrived safely I was happy to let him do it