Kirstie Allsopp reported to Social Services

[Eastie77Returns]

I know she’s worshipped on MN so will don by hard hat now😅 I think reporting her was absolutely ridiculous but I do question the wisdom of letting her 15 year old son travel across Europe on his own (well with friends). She mentioned lots of kids do this after their GCSEs. I think it’s usually after A Levels?

Yeah, SO?! Just because it's easier to book trips abroad now, that still doesn't make it OK to send your 15 year old CHILD abroad on a jolly, with his school-age mates, with no adult supervision!

.

@MrsSunshine2b · Today 18:27

Seems like it's only "free-range parenting" if you've got serious funds, otherwise it's plain child neglect.

@CauliflowerBalti · Today 20:35

I agree with this. Rich kids roaming Europe is normal. Poor kids fending for themselves is neglect.

This. If a working class single mother living on a council estate was to let her 15 y.o. CHILD go abroad with their mates with NO ADULT SUPERVISION, she would be lambasted, and probably have her children taken away from her.

But when it's middle - and upper class families, it's OK somehow.

Even so, I don't know one single parent who would allow their 15 year old CHILD go abroad with their teen mates - with no adult supervision. And I mix with working, middle, and upper-class people. It really is irresponsible and careless parenting!

ALSO, it's utterly ridiculous to say a middle-class 15 y.o. boy will automatically be more smart and mature than a working class one. Some people on here sound like they lead very sheltered lives, along with being very narrow-minded.

I agree with a PP that I don't think Europe is as safe as it was - especially for girls. And I also agree that KA's son will have had exposure to a whole lot more privilege and experience that many 15/16 y/o teens will not. I agree the outrage would be off the charts if it were someone like Kerry Katona or Katie Price!

KA often spouts out of touch bollocks about a LOT of topics but I still don't believe the situation was worthy of a SS referral.

Posh hotels do not rent rooms to 15 year olds.

What do you mean "wow"? I'm merely saying that this boy is much more privileged and therefore probably much more experienced and worldly wise than the average lad of his age?

What is your problem here anyway? You're full of outrage. Nobody is sending yr child anywhere or forcing you to, so I don't know why you are getting your knickers in such a knot?

Oh, give it a rest! Kirstie Allsopp probably owns property all over Europe.

They are experiencing their lives from totally different perspectives. It's not rocket science to figure that out.

Now you are making things up. That is not at all what people are saying.

I think you're the narrow-minded one here. Nobody said it was "automatic" either other than you.

I am sure Kirstie and her husband discussed the issue and made a decision that was actually based on their assessment of their son's ability to cope. I wouldn't have made the same decision for any of my kids but they weren't raised the way this lad will have been! He's probably got the experience of travelling abroad of a much older person, and I couldn't imagine any child of KA's not being brimming with confidence.

It's utterly ridiculous that you equate a young man with Oscar's background with someone whose background is less privileged. I could totally see Boris Johnson for eg travelling round Europe at a young age! I think you are the one living a sheltered life. You don't seem to have perspective.

@Runnerinthenight Yeah, I grew up around well-off people who had properties abroad and travelled frequently. They took it in their stride and were really confident getting around themselves from a young age. It's a huge contributory factor to why this is a total non-story.

The kid had a nice holiday and came back in one piece.

This

I was privately educated and 15 year old boys at my independent school were just as silly as 15 year old boys anywhere else. In fact, slightly sillier since they were used to having a safety net of money whenever they fucked up.

I had young relatives who were at boarding school in England. From early-mid teens they were able, unescorted, to get on a coach in the town where their school was to travel to Gatwick, where they boarded a plane to fly to the country where their parents were living. (Father worked for a multinational and was based there.)

Getting a coach from school to an airport, boarding a plane and being met by an adult at the other end is NOT the same as spending several weeks unaccompanied and making multiple journeys.

The only contact he could have had with his parents was by mobile phone, and what if she called and he didn't answer? How long would it take for her to realise he wasn't just asleep/busy/out of signal or battery and that something was wrong, and then what would be her next move? Fly out to his last known location and then do what? Launch a search for 2 kids who may or may not be in that country?

The sort of inter railing experience KA's son will have been on will have been nice and safe- that's what wealth buys you. It won't have been dodgy hostels in dodgy areas, getting trains in the middle of the night and sleeping at railways stations.
The sneering tone of how much better a parent she is by letting her son do this doesn't take into account that an experience a 15 year old from a less wealthy background is not going to be the same and carries much more risk. But she will have no idea about the reality of that because she would need to think outside her box.
My DS has just turned 16 this week and as mature and sensible and bright as he is I couldn't afford to provide him with the means to do a trip like her son will have experienced and so he wouldn't get to do it. Also there's a risk she is confusing confidence with maturity. Private schools produce a lot of uber confident kids- they are not all mature or street smart.

Surely that's her business? It also might surprise you that some people don't need to know exactly what their kids are doing, or where they are, every second of every day. That doesn't make them bad parents.

This is an example of when technology just makes people far more anxious for no good reason.

He was fine. What's the issue?

And that is exactly what would have happened here! There was a fuckton of money as a safety net!

And I would imagine that KA's sons would have had a whole extra layer of privilege and experience even compared to your average privately educated nearly 16 year old.

He appears to have survived unscathed.

Presumably KA and her husband based their decision to let him go on knowing their son + feeling he was mature enough to cope. Obviously, teenagers mature at different speeds.

Don't worry, no one's suggesting making interrailing for 15/16 year olds compulsory.

IME very rich kids are often far less streetwise than working class kids. The working class kids would be much safer inter railing.

@DeclineandFall I am not rich. I went inter railing. I did not sleep at railway stations or stay in dodgy hostels. I stayed in cheap but well run places.

Well that's your experience and therefore purely anecdotal!

Great. Taking the time of a social worker away from a child who could actually need protection from neglect or abuse.

Very sporadically. The fact is such 16yos are deemed mature enough to live by themselves, budget, cook, make day to day decisions, etc…….if they can manage that and they’re not seeing their social worker from one month to the next I’m sure a 16yo can manage for three weeks in Europe.

There were two of them , one just under 16yo and the other 16. Plenty of money to fly home if needed, money for hostels, trains, etc. mobile phone call away from parents if needed.

I think I've been living in Switzerland for too long as I can't see the problem with a group of 15-16 year olds interrailing. My DD's aren't privately educated or rich, but have grown up in Switzerland. They went on self-organised holidays by train to different countries at that age, as did many of their friends. All accomodation was booked in advance and needed a letter of permission from the parents for the under 16's in the group.

It's also really common here for school classes of 15-16 year olds to organise a 'Heimwoche' where they all go and live in a rented very basic house on their own for a week and go to school and extra curricular activities as normal. All great fun - no disasters I heard about!

Is KA really worshipped on MN? I know her irl and she's absolutely horrific. Hates other women especially if she considers them working class.