AIBU to refuse a Year 9 staying up for the 1am match?

I'd let him. Being tired at school will be all part of the experience - the kids can bond over how wrecked they are. Hopefully the teachers will be a bit sympathetic, this close to the end of term ...

Let him watch it but he has to go to school the next day. You go onto bed at your usual time and leave him and DH to it. All his friends will be watching and talking about it. So what if he is tired for one day. He can get an early night tomorrow and he is on the wind down for summer anyway.

Unclench. It's one day. He doesn't need to 'function' perfectly tomorrow, he just has to be there.
Watch match with dad - off to school on time tomorrow.
Bed early Monday night.

My Y8 has no interest but if he did then he'd have the option to get up early (IE 6am) and watch it on catch up. This is what I'm doing for the football mad 11yo.

WC Final then yes. Anything else then nope. My kids are tired and burnt out enough at this stage of term so fuck adding an intentional night of very little sleep into the mix.

Dad said "yes" so why do you get to veto? Year 9 is old enough to make choices and learn from them.

Bed early and up for the match is what I'd do i i were going to watch. Then dad is in charge of the morning routine.

Oh let him stay up! We let our kids do it for the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony when they were 4 and 6 and they still have such fond memories of it. Sit him on the sofa with a blanket and some nice snacks - if it’s boring he’ll fall asleep. If it’s exciting it’s a core memory for him. All his friends will be watching so he’ll be able to join in the chat tomorrow at school. Also, why not let him rest/sleep from 8-12 and then wake him up. He could set an alarm.

My 11 year old in year 7 will be watching it. The deal is he goes to bed early, gets up to watch the match and (hopefully) go back to sleep after. He’ll be in school at normal time though, if I’ve got to get up and get myself to work then he can get up for school 😂. It’s once every 4 years, no harm will be done.

My year 9 son is going to stay up
and watch . He’ll go to bed at 7 , nap and then get up for the match .

I’d let him stay up. I’d also make sure he got up in time to attend school. I also wouldn’t stay awake myself to make sure he stayed awake for the match.

…and his memory of this game when world cup on in years to come be he was the only one not allowed to watch it.

This is our plan: get up at 5, watch on catch up before school/work. It is the last official week of school before opportunities week, DD14's exams are done and it will be the last England game unless there's a miracle. She'll be Yr 13 by the next one!

Yes. It’s a one off. Don’t be that Mum! Lean into it, get in the snacks and create a best memory.

All his peers will have seen it. He'll be very much the odd one out.

I don't even like football and I'd let him get up at 12:45 to watch it.

Because they can. The only people I've encountered who misuse their power anywhere as near as frequently as parents are the worst prison officers.

I’d do this too. He’ll just have a couple of days of feeling tired, he’ll be ok. I don’t really care about football but can see it might be very important to a Y9 boy and his mates.

It isn't uncommon for a teen to spend the odd Saturday/Sunday having naps. It's to do with brain development, hormones and changing into an adult. They need around 10 hours, but don't always get it, unlike adults, they can actually catch up on sleep. Like the development stage when babies need to cluster feed, or toddlers change their sleep, it's an important stage in physical development.
@pragmatismuniversalsentimentalist if football isn't your or your families thing, fair enough, but it us a important part of some people's lives and the World Cup is a tournament which everyone can watch because it's on ITV and the BBC. A lot of lads know the flags of every country via sport.
OP I think that it would be wrong of you to stop him from watching it.
Not quite as late, but a lot of children were allowed a later bedtime to watch Torvil and Dean win the winter Olympics 1984.

Yeesh! My son is aged 9, not year 9 and I’m letting him watch it! What exactly do you think will happen?

I am having a pretty active day and plan to send my son for an early night, so I’m hoping he gets at least 4/5 hours before the match and then a couple of hours after (possibly once he’s stopped sobbing because they’ve been knocked out!). And he will be at school on time and have an early night on Monday.

He's 14 not 4!! One night of very little sleep is hardly going to kill him😂

You can't order a fourteen-year-old to sleep. You really only have the choice of whether or not to be an arse about it. Nothing wrong with saying he still has to go to school, telling him you don't want to hear any whinging about being tired in the morning, and suggesting an early night and setting an alarm.

I’d let him stay up, no question, but he’d be going in to school at normal time.

My husband and son plan to get a couple of hours sleep then set an alarm to go downstairs and watch it and then go back to bed afterwards.

I don’t understand why some parents get so weird and controlling about things that just aren’t that big a deal in the scheme of things. It’s one night. It’s a big event if you care about these things. He will likely remember it for a long time. His friends likely are also going to be watching. If he’s genuinely into it, he won’t sleep anyway. I would let him, while certainly not bothering to myself. Obvs things like this have consequences and yes, he gets up for school, and sucks up a bit of tiredness. Treat him like the responsible teen I hope he is.

It's a one-off time wise because if England do win, none of their other games will be in the middle of the night before work or school. They would all be about 10pm latest, and on a weekend.

I would let him stay up, it's just one night

Because it is.

Whatever happens, England men's team won't be playing any more games at this hour during the tournament, because their path to the final doesn't involve any. There's only a couple more years of him being young enough for OP to get a say in his bedtimes, and there'll be no more men's football competitions held several hours behind us in that time. 2028 Euros is in the UK.

On the decision itself, I lean towards staying up. With a 14 year old, it's not necessarily about whether he'd be better off having a full night's sleep, because there's a good chance he's going to be so pissed off and wound up he doesn't sleep properly anyway.

My kids are too small to care about sports, and I'm Irish (so can't see this situation ever happening unless we get somewhere with the rugby 😅) but I would definitely let mine stay up. I don't really care about football, but even I'd stay up! It's a country-wide event that a lot of people will be talking about. I'd hate to force a kid to miss out on that.

There would be no calling in sick though. Have to teach the art of powering through and keeping to your responsibilities when you make certain choices! Encourage him to get to bed early tonight around 9, sleep until the game, then try sleep a couple of hours afterwards. Then an early night tomorrow night 🤷🏻‍♀️