What did you do as a teenager that would never be allowed to happen now?

[slippyfeet]

Reading threads today, one in particular about teenagers having phones has got me thinking about how times are so different now and the sort of things myself and my friends got up to as teens that just wouldn't happen in a widespread way today. Mostly a good thing, from a safety perspective, some of the things we did were downright dangerous and stupid. I was a teenager in the late 90's early 00's.

For me it would be:

• Arranging sleepovers where we'd all say we were staying at someone else's house when in fact we were all just staying out overnight, usually with a bottle of something alcoholic and the local teenage boys
• Sneaking out from sleepovers to wander villages in our pyjamas, god knows why
• Going to nightclubs and pubs underage (pre-photo ID being a thing)
• Watching films at the cinema that we were too young for
• Sneaking magazines with sex in them (hello MORE Magazine) to read about when parents were in bed
• Playing spin the bottle, properly, with the boys

Most of ours revolved around illicit alcohol actually. I should add that we all grew up unharmed to be responsible drinkers with good jobs and families now, in our mid thirties (I still have mostly the same friends!)

Do schools still do "overnight incommunicado" for pupils who take an exam earlier or later than everybody else? Occasionally such pupils would have to stay the night at a teacher's house. Could this happen nowadays? And would the pupil be forbidden to take their mobile phone and searched to ensure compliance ?

We went on a Geography Field trip to Llanrug and two teachers were regularly seen going in and out of each other's rooms in the evening. They split up with their other halves and got married about a year later.

We had some sort of thing (called Community Service!) on a Wednesday afternoon in Yr11 where we would go out in twos to help people in the community. My friend and I got assigned to a lady with limited mobility to do any odd jobs in her house. Used to sit on the sofa with her drink tea and watch the telly.

Hitchhiking!

Guilty of most of the above mentioned, I'm 54 so no-one gave a hoot. When did it all change? I've got late teen D 's now and would be totally horrified if they did most of what I did.

My brother is 10 years older than me and when I got to 15 I started going to parties with him. At 16 I started going out with someone who was in his wider circle, a 27 year old teacher. For our first date he picked me up in the school mini bus

Legal, but I don’t think many mid 20’s teachers would go out with 16 year old school girls these days?

I'm in my 40's

I rarely went to school. It was never noticed and I left before GCSE's and got a job (I was 15) nobody cared

Lying about where we were was common at 14/15 and often we were clubbing then hanging about some older guy who had a car/house. Looking back now they were all the odd bods who had no mates of their own.

We all smoked and used to get sold when we were 13/14. I remember one shop used to give fags for free if you went through the back with him for 5 mins. It was kissing/tit grabbing and the guy was in his 30's - horrifies me now but we all felt so lucky if he chose us One of the girls in the year above (probably 15 possibly 16) have him a blow job for 20 fags and a bottle of Smirnoff. After that girls used to go in asking to suck him off

One friend was seeing an older guy who had a car, we all used to go out in the car without giving it a second thought. He drove so dangerously - how he never crashed on those country roads I don't know.

When I was 16 I was seeing a married man. Again I thought he liked me, turns out he was just a fucking pervert. My mum found out and threw me out of the house!

At 17 I moved in with a guy twice my age. Again another perv, but nobody questioned it at the time. He used to take me out to the pubs all the time and I was simply accepted as his girlfriend

Standing up on fairground 'speedway' ride having jumped on when it had already started moving. Was doing that when still at junior school so 10-11. (It don't do me any harm but more luck than anything and the potential was enormous)
No seat belts in cars, front or back, often having 7 or 8 passengers in a small car.
At 19, I had had a few lessons but not yet taken my driving test, but regularly used to take the car out on my own without plates. (That's when I really learned to drive but, what an idiot.)

@slippyfeet I think we must have been friends...why was running about the village in pyjamas so fun?! Camping/drinking. I met people from my Dad's work when I was trying to get into a nightclub age 14 she gave me a tenner (out of petty cash) to pay me and 2 pals in. We got the knock back. Getting in strange teenage boys cars to go racing and my friend ended up kissing the school janny (janitor) Also the man who had the ice cream van at school used to sell single cigarettes and would swap them for home ec cooking. One of my music teachers opened a strip club...wild

Teenagers are still doing all this

Teenagers are still doing all this

I sincerely hope not. At the very least I would like to think we have brought them up to recognise abuse and understand that a relationship with a grown man is wrong.

Travelling from pub to pub with about 8 of us in one car, sitting on laps and the driver had had about 4 pints.

Same as you....

In school drunk was fun

(I dont drink now)

I don’t really understand the list - those things were all ‘not allowed’ back then, you were just being sneaky, same as many teens are nowadays.

@OctoberLovers man I wish I’d done school drunk! Too late now!

I'm 47 and my comprehensive school was shit! My mum phoned them when she and my dad split up and asked them to keep an eye on me but she was the one who caught me skiving (or mooching as we call it in Wales) about 5 months later. I just about scraped 4 GCSEs first time round. I was in the pub openly drinking at 15 and had a 19 year old boyfriend with a car at 16. Although to be fair, his dad put the end to that as he told me I was too young for his son and made life very difficult ( I was heartbroken!) There were at least 5 girls that I know of who got pregnant at 15.

Most of the above + sleeping with my English teacher

My teenagers are very sensible as are most of their peers. DS1 is at Uni and their flat all had to rush back to watch Bake Off when it was on.
Will have the odd drink but not get absolutely legless etc.

The thought of them drinking and clubbing at 15-I would not have been happy. Do as I say not as I do.

I don’t really understand the list - those things were all ‘not allowed’ back then, you were just being sneaky, same as many teens are nowadays.

The list isn't about things we used to be allowed to do. Maybe that's why you don't understand it. You have read the whole OP incorrectly.

habi they are so not for the most part!

Sorry habi I'm agreeing with you! Whoever you quoted I disagree with like you do.

It's insancerre I disagree with. I've got 3 late teens and they barely leave the house, I keep expecting them to be as naughty as me and they are absolutely miles off the mark

Hitchhiking!!

I hitchhiked from uni in the North of England to the Midlands repeatedly. Both with friends and alone. Never had a bad experience but OMG! I would never let my children do it.

I wondered!

I was a goody two shoes but underage drinking was fucking rife at my school and I don't mean "ooo I've had a shandy" I mean people lying in their own sick in the street most of this took place at the Schools Official Youth Club which I never got to go to because my sister told my Mum about the drinking just as I was due to start

But yes, parents clearing off out of their own home for sixth formers parties 😂

This was the norm, does it still happen?!

@Pinkblueberry I was absolutely not allowed to do any of those things, nor were any of my friends. But they were just what teens did then, we weren't anything unusual or particularly 'bad' pretty much everyone did stuff like that.

I don't think teens now do as much stuff like that, or if they do it's not nearly as widespread. It's nowhere near as easy to get into nightclubs or buy alcohol underage as it was when I was growing up, for example.

I'm glad everyone else gets what I'm on about, anyway!