What time do you expect your 16 yr old to be home by?

[BrandNewShinyThings]

DS has been meeting his mates at the park, he's been coming home later and later, I've said 10pm latest to be home. He bikes there and back, he's got lights. Just curious what time you expect your 16 yr old to be in by?

11 at the latest.

I'd expect ds home by 8:30ish

Oh blimey that's 2 very different answers

I don’t have a 16 year old (just yet) but I’d want him home before dark. I think 9.30.

My 15 year old twins have to be back by 10pm. They are really good at ringing in.

My 15 year old twins have to be back by 10pm. They are really good at ringing in.

Mine are adults now but at 16 probably 10 ish for the sort of thing you are describing. I think to some degree it depends on the area, whether he is cycling on main roads etc and who may be around.

11.30 was my time at that age. Friends were allowed out later though.

We do live in a low crime area, he cycles across country lanes and relatively quiet roads to get to the park. He's generally a sensible lad, but this is all new to me so I was interested in what others do. I've gone from worrying he wasn't socialising at all to worrying about him being out late

Ds is often out later than my 8:30 deadline, but only if he's doing something specific, not just hanging around a park and annoying everyone who lives nearby.

I'd expect ds home by 8:30ish

I'm always amazed on MN that people expect to treat 16/17 year olds like babies, yet expect them to be fully self sufficient adults, paying their way at 18.

8.30?!? My 14 year old is allowed out until 9

My 17 year old comes in around 9.30 on a week day and anything up till 11pm on a weekend .

8:30 is weirdly controlling, girl guides and scouts don't finish until 9 or half 9!

8:30?! Jesus christ😂

10-10:30. But mine relies on me or DH to collect her so our way or not at all.

But she rarely goes out.

@Tinofcurses

Ds is often out later than my 8:30 deadline, but only if he's doing something specific, not just hanging around a park and annoying everyone who lives nearby.

That's quite an assumption

Possibly my timing is different because we're in NZ and it's always dark before 9pm, even in the middle of summer. And I did say he's out later than that if he's doing something other than loitering in a park

It would entirely depend where they’d been, who they were with and what they were doing.
I’d never have let mine hand around in a park until late into the evening, so not really comparable.

We never had curfews for DS but the expectation was that he'd tell me when he'd be back and call or text if he was going to be later.

Same for DD but generally I picked both up.

I can’t relate to these responses and I’m a pretty strict parent in comparison to my DC’s friends parents. So my DS 14 is out every day at the moment and depending on when we eat has to be in by 9.

My DD is 16 and depending on what she’s doing has to be home between 10.30 and 11.30

When they were 16 they came home when they decided. It was rarely after 11 and on the odd occasion where it was I always knew where they were etc.

8:30pm honestly

Ok just to address the park issues. We love quite rurally and the park is not near housing. It has a basketball court and a field for kicking a ball around which is one of the few things they can do together right now. They also sometimes have a bike ride together to a different field to kick a ball.
They are not smoking, drinking, playing loud music, they're just a bunch of lads trying to gain some independence and have some fun together. There's literally nothing else for them to do right now, so I'm not going to say he can't go. I was asking about curfew times which has been helpful, thank you.

10pm

Live not love

If he was out at the park etc I'd say 10 latest, if he was round at a friends I'd say midnight - basically when his friends parents kick him out!