Teenagers travelling alone

missbiggles1

rinabean wrote: »

Who on earth believes that 16 year olds are responsible enough to be parents (apart from some short-sighted 16 year olds)? If they have children their own parents should help them raise it if there's going to be success, so it's not a very good example, is it

Is this the next one? "If you don't make your 16 year olds have children you're stunting them and they'll never be normal adults."

Presumably the goverment and courts as they make the laws.

onomatopoeia99

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Why do people always quote this - currently about the eu vote.

People can only get married with their parent's permission

Not entirely true. There are no border guards at Carlisle turning back eloping teenagers.

lostinrates

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

Not entirely true. There are no border guards at Carlisle turning back eloping teenagers.

It's ok; they cannot travel there alone

duchy

Buzzybee90 wrote: »

I've only done two of these things alone and I was over 18 :rotfl:

I had no need to do them before and would have been very nervous in London alone as I wasn't used to big places or public transport until I was at least 18.

Where are all these 15 year olds going by themselves?

I don't know about now but I grew up in Surrey and back then .....at 15

School (bus)
Theatre (train and tube if the West End -otherwise bus if local)
Cinema (bus)
Nightclubs :eek: (bus)
Drama group (youth theatre) (bus)
Job interview in London for after I turned 16 train
Brighton (day trip) Train
Village Hall type discos (bus)
Regular Sunday night rock gigs (bus)
School swimming - 2 buses (at 15 we had swimming at a pool that needed two buses once a week-no teacher was present most weeks - we were expected to make our way there and back- usually we stopped at MacDonalds for lunch on the way back to school)
Most of my friends had Saturday jobs at 15 and got the bus into town to work -I worked for my Dad so used to get a lift in -except when I worked at one of the other branches of his travel agency to cover absences when I'd get the bus.

My (older) parents were considered a bit over protective by some of my friends and I was expected to keep them informed where I was and what I was doing (maybe I didn't mention the nightclubs;) ) . This was pre mobile phones.

I lived in an area with very good public transport and although we had a car my Mum didn't drive so we took public transport mostly as a child when he was at work so getting the bus as a teenager didn't seem at all adventurous. I do think the multiple car family has changed attitudes and getting public transport for many kids is the exception rather than the norm and it makes them less independent.

It wasn't the same for everyone though-I remember one of the neighbours who had kids the same age as me and my brother telling my Mum how brave she was taking us to London to the museums -and then added she'd never been to London without her husband and couldn't imagine taking the children there alone. (We were ten minutes walk from the station and it was half an hour on the direct train to London).

SingleSue

Eldest son was going all over the place by 15...although not on a plane. He still liked me to do up a plan or what train or bus to catch but that was more him being lazy than anything else and I rarely did it.

Middle son is now 18, he can go on the train/bus with friends but gets easily confused (he has Aspergers, memory problems, sensory processing problems and poor verbal understanding). I went with him to a uni day earlier this year (at eldest's uni, good excuse for me to see him) and even though I dealt with the tube, he was still hopelessly confused. He is off to uni in September and he is being taught/reminded to use notes etc to help stop the confusion.

Youngest at 17 doesn't travel anywhere independantly (complex autism plus other stuff), he can't even wait at a bus stop on his own!

amistupid

I'm in favour of teenagers travelling great distances on their own, it gives you opportunity to move house before they get back.

duchy

SingleSue wrote: »

Middle son is now 18, he can go on the train/bus with friends but gets easily confused (he has Aspergers, memory problems, sensory processing problems and poor verbal understanding). I went with him to a uni day earlier this year (at eldest's uni, good excuse for me to see him) and even though I dealt with the tube, he was still hopelessly confused. He is off to uni in September and he is being taught/reminded to use notes etc to help stop the confusion.

I'm always amazed how well my Aspergers son does with public transport -even when the trains get messed up he just gets out his app and finds another route - If only he was as confident about other things !

Faith177

I started going to my grandparents by tube at the age of 9 mum dropped me off nan picked me up at the other end as it was only about 7 stops about the same age I was allowed into the local town to go pictures with friends on a Saturday morning again first few times picked up and dropped off but then mum felt she could trust me. I started travelling on my own on the tube when I was about 10 and then all other forms of transport by the time I was about 13

I was in the air cadets and had friends all over the country that I would visit in the holidays so it made it easier for my mum just to put me on the train. Also we use to go away to Scotland for a month in the summer so sometimes I would have to fly up and join the family at a later date if I had cadet camp at the start.

I was always very grown up for my age so my mum allowed me a lot of freedom and I think it has helped me as I've gotten older. I went all over London when I finished my GCSE's with my then BF as he lived the other side of London and we would meet at Green Park. It meant that now I am very confident when travelling and dont get stressed or worried and know the tube like the back of my hand great for when there are delays.

I have to visit our sister office occasionally which is the other side of London from my normal office. I have had to divert my route to meet others from my office in the past as they are too worried about getting lost on the tube by themselves and they are 25+ and one of my friends refuses to get the tube on her own as it is too scary

Errata

Teenage niece could barely be trusted to climb the stairs without supervision, but at 14 she was the Movments Officer for her gang of friends and they regularly travelled all over London - bus, tube, train, Shank's pony - without mishap.

fierystormcloud

I literally cannot believe the amount of people on here who claim they used to go here there and everywhere, on their own, on long haul journeys on trains and planes and coaches, unaccompanied when they were only 10 to 14ish. Just gallivanting about with no adult supervision. In addition, they are claiming they let their kids do the same.

Hopping on buses here there and everywhere, around your own town, yes, of course, many kids do that, OR maybe on a longer journey (say to the next town,) with their friends. But some people are claiming they - or their children - travelled 1000s of miles away, on their OWN at 11, 12, 13. There are many places where you cannot even enter without an adult unless you are over 14, (like a concert venue, or a pub, and even some sports centres,) yet people are claiming to have travelled the world alone, and let their kids do the same at a younger age than this! :huh:

I didn't ever travel on trains and planes and coaches on long haul trips alone til I was 16... For one thing, my parents would never have allowed that, (until I was 16,) and secondly, I wouldn't have wanted to go wandering off on my own on a long haul trip.

I am genuinely shocked at people letting school age children go off on their own, on long distance journeys on trains and planes. Nobody I know would do that. Everyone I know would be too worried about their welfare and safety.