teenage daughter 16yrs old travelling to Portugal with friend.

[toots7]

Hi everyone I am new to this, iam divorced over 10yrs have a beautiful 16 year old daughter who wants to go to Portugal to stay with relatives, by the way my daughter lives with her mum I have her every 2 weeks for the weekend. I don't have a problem with my daughter going to Portugal, even though of course I will be worried. The problem is someone has told my daughter it would be an adventure to go by coach stopping off at Paris for a few hours then catching another coach to end the journey in Portugal. At 16 year old I would prefer her to go directly by airline with a friend as mentioned. For some strange reason her mum doesn't seem to mind how she travels and seems unconcerned. Please help me Portugal will be worry enough, , but the thought of my daughter and her 16yr old friend negotiating the route scares me witless. AM I RIGHT OR WRONG TO DEMAND THAT SHE CAN GO.......BUT ONLY BY AIRLINE???.........Many Thanks.

[AngryGnome]

OP, is she your eldest? I think that makes a difference to your interpretation of risk. At 16 my parents wouldn't allow me to go into town alone - they paid for my little sister to go on a girls holiday to Tenerife when she was 16.

I completely understand your worry, but as other posters have said part of parenting teens is supporting them to grow into confident adults who can safely assess risk for themselves. Talk to her honestly about what your concerns are, how she can best protect herself etc. I would have thought she will respond far better to that sort of approach than a knee jerk ban on her going by coach.

(As an aside, I have no idea why she would want to go by coach - takes ages and far less comfortable than a flight!)