At what age would you let your child/teen...

badmemory

onlyroz wrote: »

Or did your sister play up and you got the blame?

Big style would be an understatement. They just wouldn't believe that she started as soon as they left the house. Even when she drank half a bottle of sherry, which I would have needed physical violence to stop her from doing, she didn't even get told off - it was all my fault. So I grew up hating her and frankly not liking them very much.

FBaby

- Wear nail polish - as a kid for play, never interested as a teenager
- Wear make-upas above
- Shave their legs11/12
- Walk to/from school alone11 for my DD, 9 for DS
- Stay at home alone for 30 mins 8 or 9
- Stay at home alone for a few hours 9 or 10
- Stay at home alone overnight17
- Go out (to the park/shops/cinema etc) unsupervised in a group 9 to the cinema
- Go out unsupervised alone
- Travel on a bus/train alone 9
- Watch a 12-rated film no idea, not into films
- Watch a 15-rated filmas above
- Watch an 18-rated filmas above
- Have a few sips of an alcoholic drink never
- Have a weak alcoholic drink (e.g. shandy, spritzer)never
- Have a strong alcoholic drink (e.g. beer, wine)certainly never!
- Choose their own clothes as soon as they expressed their choice
- Have a mobile phone11
- Have a TV/computer/console in their room 8
- Have unsupervised internet access 8/9?
- Have a social media account 11 I think, DS wasn't bothered, so probably 12 or 13

Batman2017

I have no children but I was suprised when somebody I know allowed their 7yr old son to play GTA5 and Call of duty unsupervised. When I was a kid I did play the original GTA but i was about 11-12 years old and it wasnt nearly as graphic as modern games. Im curious as to whether anyone would let their child play these games at this age?

Spendless

Re - the watch a 12 rated film. You do know that when the film is on at the cinema the rating is 12A, so an under 12 can watch as long as they are accompanied by an adult. When the film goes to dvd/blu-ray it becomes a 12 (a rating the cinema doesn't have) this is so an under 12 can't buy it and watch alone. I'm guessing from your question that you're asking what age would you let an under 12 watch without an adult accompanying? The answer for me, would be it depends on the film content.

I'm on hol at minute and just having some wind down time, so not going to go through all the questions. I will say that when I once revealed on here I'd left my 9 3/4 child at home for a max of 30 mins (front door locked, back door unlocked and Dad instructed to ring whilst I was out) I got a whole thread devoted to my actions on here. Said child is now 17 and I stil remain convinced he was perfectly capable of being left. The first time I left him alone o/night was at 16, not long after he'd finished his GCSE's (just co-incidence).

Alcohol, eldest started having a beer/lager at home from 14 just an occassional one at an 'event' such as watching a game on tv with his Dad or at a bbq.

onlyroz

Batman2017 wrote: »

I have no children but I was suprised when somebody I know allowed their 7yr old son to play GTA5 and Call of duty unsupervised. When I was a kid I did play the original GTA but i was about 11-12 years old and it wasnt nearly as graphic as modern games. Im curious as to whether anyone would let their child play these games at this age?

My son is 12 and he has been allowed to see any 12 rated film and play any 12 rated game for a number of years now. We've let him play some 15 rated games (e.g. the Uncharted ones and Mass Effect) after we've played them ourselves. There's no way we'd let him play something like GTA but he says that some of his school friends are allowed to.

silvercar

My answers are from real life as boys are now in their twenties.

- Wear nail polish/ Wear make-up/ Shave their legs -boys still not expressed an interest
- Walk to/from school alone 11
- Stay at home alone for 30 mins 10 on their own (8 & 12 when together)
- Stay at home alone for a few hours 11 (12 in the evening)
- Stay at home alone overnight 17
- Go out (to the park/shops/cinema etc) unsupervised in a group to the cinema 10
- Go out unsupervised alone 12
- Travel on a bus/train alone 11
- Watch a 12-rated film 10
- Watch a 15-rated film 13
- Watch an 18-rated film 16
- Have a few sips of an alcoholic drink 14
- Have a weak alcoholic drink (e.g. shandy, spritzer) 15
- Have a strong alcoholic drink (e.g. beer, wine) 16 if I knew about it, probably 14 hidden from me
- Choose their own clothes can't remember
- Have a mobile phone 11
- Have a TV/computer/console in their room 14 (prob a reflection on the times)
- Have unsupervised internet access for ever -
we still had dial up internet when the youngest was 8!
- Have a social media account think they were messaging on MSM from 7, no facebook then.

peachyprice

onlyroz wrote: »

...do the following things?


- Wear nail polish - Depends, any age if it's for dress-up, properly 12
- Wear make-up - Mascara & lipgloss 11-12, full 14-15
- Shave their legs - As soon as they become aware, around 11 for my DD
- Walk to/from school alone - Last year of primary
- Stay at home alone for 30 mins - 9-10
- Stay at home alone for a few hours - 13
- Stay at home alone overnight - 16-17 Depends on the child
- Go out (to the park/shops/cinema etc) unsupervised in a group - 12-13
- Go out unsupervised alone - Depends where you mean? To play 8-9
- Travel on a bus/train alone - How far, to do what?
- Watch a 12-rated film - 10
- Watch a 15-rated film - 13
- Watch an 18-rated film - 16
- Have a few sips of an alcoholic drink - 7-8, if they wanted to
- Have a weak alcoholic drink (e.g. shandy, spritzer) - 11, if they wanted to
- Have a strong alcoholic drink (e.g. beer, wine) 14, if they wanted to
- Choose their own clothes - Why would anyone stop them at any age?
- Have a mobile phone - secondary school, 11
- Have a TV/computer/console in their room - Any age, supervised
- Have unsupervised internet access - 9-10 with filters in place
- Have a social media account - 13


Just curious, being the parent of 8 and 12-year-olds who are keen to get on with "growing up".

There you go.

clairec79

onlyroz wrote: »

For those saying "depends on the maturity of the child" - I'm asking about *your* child, and presumably you have an opinion about how mature they are.

But they may have more than one child and therefore different rules for each one due to maturity

clairec79

- Wear nail polish - I let them do it quite early for fun, not for school etc but I'm guessing they were under 5
- Wear make-up - little bit of eye shadow and lip gloss for special occasions was probably 8 or 9 - 15 year old started wearing more makeup about 13 or so
- Shave their legs - 11 (but had they asked earlier I would have - eyebrow waxing was in comp but thats also the rule of the salon)
- Walk to/from school alone - junior school had a rule that it was only year 6 kids who could - I'd have been ok with it from about 7 (but we live on the same street as the school)
- Stay at home alone for 30 mins - trying to remember, think it was about 10/11
- Stay at home alone for a few hours - 12 I think
- Stay at home alone overnight - not done it yet, I'd probably be ok with my 16 year old doing it though
- Go out (to the park/shops/cinema etc) unsupervised in a group - local park was when they were still in juniors, cinema was in comp
- Go out unsupervised alone - 11
- Travel on a bus/train alone - 12 (although they weren't completely alone but it was with other kids their age - or their sibling)
- Watch a 12-rated film - depends what it is and if I agreed with it (I think there are some 12 rated films I've let my 6 year old see, but there are others I wouldn't - however I would have watched it first to see what I thought)
- Watch a 15-rated film - about 12/13 but see above
- Watch an 18-rated film - about 13/14 but see above (by 16 I wouldn't insist on watching it first)
- Have a few sips of an alcoholic drink - never banned it, I would guess they were about 5 and each thought yuck
- Have a weak alcoholic drink (e.g. shandy, spritzer) - from about 10 they've had bucks fizz with xmas dinner
- Have a strong alcoholic drink (e.g. beer, wine) - 15
- Choose their own clothes - not quite sure what you mean by this, the 6 year old will choose what he's wearing, but it's out of clothes I have brought - but may not be what I'd have chosen. In terms of choosing what is brought if they've shown interest then from early on, but I'll have veto power, I did let the 15 year old go clothes shopping on her own the other week
- Have a mobile phone - 10/11 (when they go out without an adult)
- Have a TV/computer/console in their room (no cut off - my youngest shares a room with his older brother so has had one in there since he was 1)
- Have a social media account - 11

onlyroz

My answers (my daughter is 8 and my son is 12):

- Wear nail polish: My daughter has been asking. I'm not keen but I suppose I'll let her soon.
- Wear make-up: Not until their teens
- Shave their legs: Again my daughter has been asking. She has fine blond hair on her legs but I don't think she should start shaving until she hits puberty when I expect the hair will get thicker
- Walk to/from school alone: Age 10. My son walks himself to and from secondary school
- Stay at home alone for 30 mins: Age 8
- Stay at home alone for a few hours: Age 11 (my son has been at home alone after school from 3:30-6:00 for the whole of the last year)
- Stay at home alone overnight: Hmm probably around 16 or so
- Go out (to the park/shops/cinema etc) unsupervised in a group: Age 9/10
- Go out unsupervised alone: Age 11
- Travel on a bus/train alone: My kids don't need to use a bus to get for school so this hasn't been an issue yet. I expect I'd let them travel to town by bus in a group from age 13 or so.
- Watch a 12-rated film: Probably from age 6/7 assuming it was a 12A at the cinema
- Watch a 15-rated film: 13/14 assuming I'd seen the film first
- Watch an 18-rated film: 16 or so assuming I'd seen the film first
- Have a few sips of an alcoholic drink: From age 5, but my kids have always said "blurgh" or "yuck" whenever they'd tried
- Have a weak alcoholic drink (e.g. shandy, spritzer): Age 10
- Have a strong alcoholic drink (e.g. beer, wine): Age 14 or so if they wanted
- Choose their own clothes: By this I mean choose them in the shop with no input from me. I think probably around age 14
- Have a mobile phone: Age 11 is when they "need" a phone (i.e. when they go off to secondary school). Both my kids have them because we were able to get a cheap deal on the iPhone 5c - but only my son has a proper use for it.
- Have a TV/computer/console in their room: Age 8
- Have unsupervised internet access: Age 8 but with some monitoring and discussion, and the right to withdraw access if they are found watching unsuitable content
- Have a social media account: Age 13, but neither has shown an interest yet.