Kirstie Allsop's 15 Year Old Son

But Kirsty allsop's son wasn't alone, he was with friends.

Private rooms usually.shared with the one over 16

To let a girl at 15 go interailing by herself would be extremely irresponsible

Perhaps a little bit young for my liking, but he's not my child.
Mine has just been aged 18 (Year13).
And I was nervous but the four of them coped so well.
If he is familiar with travelling I'm sure it was okay. Plus it's pretty easy to fly out and rescue them if something happens.

Every child is different with different perspectives built from the guidance, support and experiences they have in life and every parent is different in the way they approach parenting their children, partly influenced by the child themselves and their capabilities. Kirsty and her son obviously both felt this was within his capabilities and he’s returned back fine with a lot of new experiences, memories and stories.

Personally I remember at such an age I was pretty confident and resilient and I could have managed that. Sadly I do have to agree with some other posters that what I see leads me to believe that children are developing skills less quickly these days and I am a firm believer that the current tech culture doesn’t help!

O dear some people love to mollycoddle their kids. I some countries 15 is a full adult with a job responsibilities etc. the same was true in the UK in the past. Sounds like he had a great time.

We let our just turned 16 year old go to Reading festival for 4 nights, and to be honest I would’ve much preferred him to have been Interailing!!

Are you saying we shouldn't let our daughters do things we would let our sons do?

Is that not like saying they can't wear mini skirts because people will sexually assault them?

Why do we limit our daughters because of men's behaviour? Why not keep our sons at home if we can't trust men?

My BF and I toured England and Scotland on a Brit rail pass back in the summer of 1973. We had just turned 17. We saved our wages from our part-time jobs in a supermarket and our parents paid airfares.We flew from Canada.
We stayed in youth hostels which was challenging and occasionally with relatives of mine. Towards the end of our six weeks away, we scraped together enough money to stay in a bed and breakfast in York. I found the receipt last year when chucking out ready for a house move. £3.00!! Astonishing.
We did have our share of attention from mostly older men, but we could cope with this as we’d been propositioned/shouted at since we were 13 or 14.
It was back to school in the September and I remember feeling so sophisticated 😉 as our other friends had spent the summer at home or camping with their parents.
It was the best trip and I wish I was still in touch with my old friend so we could reminisce.

The bit on my X related her answering someone who had said maybe OK for boy but not for a girl of that age to go inter-railing alone and she answered why was it any different for a girl? Astonishment all round.

As a Society we infantilise our children.
I was working (weekends and holidays) at that age, and had long been capable of travelling up to London from my Middlesex home to sightsee and shop on my own, with friends, and, from the age of 11, with my brother and his friend - 5 and 4 years younger than me respectively, providing childcare in the holidays by visiting the museums there Etc.
At 15, I would wager I was more of a responsible adult than most 15-year-olds today - possibly than most 21-year-olds, if the interns I work with are anything to go by!
Kirstie seems to be a no-nonsense, old-fashioned kind of Mum - so I’m sure that her children are more advanced and capable of autonomy than most others that age now.
What is strange though, is that with the availability of constant contact with parents (mobile phones Etc.) more children aren’t given even more freedom than I had in the 1970’s!

So judgemental! Why be so nasty and negative. There’s so much jealousy on here, that having a sensible conversation is becoming a rare thing!

Absolutely agree!

I agree it is young (so is 16), many places don’t even allow under 18 to stay unaccompanied for one night in a hotel.

I wouldn’t have agreed to this, but his DM has strange ideas generally, so it’s no surprise.

Rich people are very privileged in pretty much every area of work, property, education, travel, possessions, food and shelter.
Being rich in itself really doesn’t need special consideration.

I’m on some groups for parents with kids about to start university. You wouldn’t believe the amount of people who say their 18 year old isn’t really an adult and can’t cook or clean for themselves. Many parents are leaving it to their kid’s future uni flat mates to teach them how to cook and clean up after themselves.
I fear many parents are just expecting their kid’s flatmates to clean for their child as they haven’t bothered to teach them any life skills themselves.
Kids should be pretty independent by 18 (unless SEN of course) so a safe trip round Europe is great if you have the money.
My son has Coeliac disease so travelling is pretty difficult - there is such a lack of understanding about cross contamination that eating out or cooking in communal kitchens is very risky (he could be very ill for 4-7 days if glutened by even a tiny crumb, which isn’t good if you are travelling), so we are trying to help him gain independence in other ways.
Parents who are not mega rich can still help by letting the child take on responsibilities at home with housework, cooking, caring for younger siblings, getting jobs, travelling to an unfamiliar area by bus and finding their way around.

So you're saying that it's OK to insult those in a better financial position than yourself, instead of saying that it's wrong to insult people. MN is, as ever, the home is utter hypocrisy and double standards.

I went to Germany with two friends when I was 16. We stayed in youth hostels. This was 20 years ago though so I suppose things are different now.

When DD went interrailing 5 years ago none of the hostels they stayed in would accept under 18s unless they were accompanied by an adult.

Depends on the kid. Mine couldn’t attempt it. Doubt he could at 17 now. That’s because we haven’t travelled much in the last 10yrs. We live in a town with no public transport so has had to be driven everywhere, and has no other family here he could be put on a train or plane to visit. So he’s not had the opportunities to become that independent. Sadly.

You are being totally unreasonable. It’s absolutely nothing to do with you!

Yes I heard it and she sounded very reasonable.

She knows her own kid and what he’s capable of. She would have had a tracker app on his phone too. She knew he’d be fine. And I’m glad she was confident in her choice.

It’s fine - he’s 16 today and has probably been away at boarding school since at least 11 or 13. It makes you more independent.

A friend and I spent a week at Butlins alone at 14. DH and friends went on a YHA cycling trip at 12 and to Switzerland at 14. I used to travel alone from the age of 12 on a coach (with a change) to visit my best friend 100 miles away and vice versa. There were other trips and outings... All long before mobile phones. Parents today are too precious. Children aren't stupid, they can follow instructions and improvise if there are problems.