To let my 15yo son inter-rail around Europe for 3 weeks with his 16yo pal?

Why? You may not like her or agree with her but she hardly pretends not to be rich and posh.

Also it’s almost irrelevant given he turned 16 during the trip which is old enough to join the military, be in a war zone and risk your life for your country, or to get married and have children of your own.

16 year olds can join the military but are not allowed to go to a war zone until they are an adult.

I went off cycling round UK with a couple of friends staying at Youth Hostels when I was 15, one friend was 16. There were no mobiles in those days.

It never occurred to me that my DM might have been worried.

It was aeons ago though.

Children travel to and from school from overseas to UK on their own all the time.

The thing I found funny was she decided to boast about this, and then acted all shocked that most people thought it was batshit. She's so out of touch with the general population it's off the scale! I guess it's safer if your parents are multimillionaires so you don't have to stay anywhere dangerous or sleep rough, and if you called you dad he could stop it, oh yeah..
Sorry, but I felt pulp lyrics somehow seemed appropriate?

It’s context and individual specific.

It’s fine for some and not fine for others. Parents make this call as individuals. The State doesn’t decide.

In this case it was the right call, and safe.

Also it’s almost irrelevant given he turned 16 during the trip which is old enough to join the military, be in a war zone and risk your life for your country, or to get married and have children of your own.

I continue to be amazed at what boring, insular little lives people want for their children. How are there teenagers who can’t read a bus or train timetable, book youth hostels or camping sites (ensuring that their ages aren’t a problem) and go sightseeing.

My son went off back packing round Europe after GCSEs with a friend and had an absolutely amazing time. I did the same when I was his age as did almost everyone in my year group. That is what summer holidays when you are young and carefree is for ….. explore, adventure, fun

Nope.

I would. My DD is 16 and would perfectly fine. She flew to see a friend in Spain at 11 and regularly gets the train and tube to London to catch up with friends. She rarely gets stuck and if she does, she knows how to deal with it.

If you have confident, independent young people who know what to do in a sticky situation, then yes. If you have never let your child even get the train on their own, then no, they're not ready for the outside world.

To be fair to the OP she did start this almost a week ago, it's not her fault that someone started it up again

I think it entirely depends on the child. I would have been absolutely fine at 15 (and did travel internationally without an adult a couple of times - not for holidays but I navigated airports and transfers including long distance trains at the other end by myself) but my sister wouldn't have.

The vast majority of 15 year olds should be able to read a bus or train or flight timetable and navigate a signposted transport hub. They should know how hotels work. They should know about not talking to random strangers or not to go places that seem sketchy at night. They should know about keeping an eye on their belongings to avoid the risk of being pickpocketed, etc. All of these things are not inherently unsafe in the UK, I don't know why they'd be any less safe elsewhere - if the kid is confident enough to do it, knows what to do in an emergency (i.e. how to call the police or locate an embassy if they're stuck) and is reasonably sensible, I really don't see the issue.

The fantastic thing is you don’t have to let your 15 year old do it - because that’s YOUR choice. But Kirsty can do decide to given it’s HER child & HER choice.

If a (healthy, physically abled, neurotypical) 15 year old isn't capable of getting a train to the town centre by themselves I'd say there was something quite wrong with the level of independence they've been given to that point.

Well nothing did in this case, apart from the mother making the mistake of tweeting about it!

WhistPie · Today 10:01
If a person who will be 16 in a week's time, and who up to a couple of years ago could have got married, and who in Scotland could vote, wants to go on holiday with their friends, then let them.
**
If however the person has been wrapped in cotton wool by a parent and not even been allowed to catch public transport on their own to school, and doesn't know how to use a washing machine, then it's probably not a good idea.”

This. Everyone is different. Some very nearly 16 year olds are highly competent. Some are hopeless. Presumably this young man’s parents are more aware of his strengths and weaknesses than anyone commenting here.

Yeah, of course you should let them go for it. What could possibly go wrong?!
😂

Oh, leave the woman alone! I bet a man wouldn't be getting this amount of crap if he'd tweeted about his 15 year old son inter-railing.

Could be worse. Could be sending the poor sod to boarding school.

Its totally fine.
Its obviously not perfectly safe.
But what is? Raise responsible and confident children then let them go. They'll thank you later. And you won't be stuck with them at 30+ y/o unable to hold down a job...
I'm team Kirstie all the way on this one.

I'm 57 and would have loved to do this, and still would!
I didn't don't have the maturity or confidence. I was let down by the adults in my life in not giving me chances to grow. I struggle even now as a result.

No

Probably safer than the U.K. due to knife crime. Much less in Europe

dd could potentially have done this at 15 I think but she's just dine it at 18 and said she met some younger people who got quite stressed and needed quite a bit of support from older travellers so I'm quite glad she didn't. She said there were times she felt unsafe in Berlin and Venice Mestre and was glad to get back to the hostel. She and her friend were also on a train going through rural Slovakia which suddenly stopped without much explanation and they all had to get off and walk along beside the track to the next station!

When I did it I got refused entry to Turkey ( long story to do with a visa issue) and kept In a waiting room for about 8 hours until we could be sent back to Greece.. actually border guards were lovely and fed us and even took is for a presumably totally forbidden walk to buy supplies in nearby shop.. but it was stressful even at 19. A couple of women were in tears.

Overall so much potential for things to go wrong I'd prefer my child to be older than 15 before crossing multiple international land borders unless they have to.. I think flying is different as generally even changes keep you in the confines if an airport were there isare usually plenty of security staff and police.

The thing that I find strangest is that Social Services sent a text.....is that standard practice? I find that so weird! Unless they've been calling constantly and she's just been ignoring it.....

@Carebearsonmybed

why did you want your very own thread about KA?

couldn't you have just bitched along on one if the existing threads?

or started something worth talking about?

There are already loads of threads about KA. Why not join one of those instead of trying to be a clever dick about it.