To not want 13 year old to spend evening hanging out at O2 Finchley?

[waterfallrainbow]

Still learning to parent a teenager! His friends wanted to spend someone's birthday hanging out at the O2 centre. I'm a country girl - the idea of hanging out at a shopping centre all evening is totally alien to me! We're in Islington, where there's a serious knife crime issue. I realise O2 is a different scene, but I can't help thinking unsupervised teenagers in a mall for 2 hours could go horribly wrong?

@NoLoveofMine

You are referring to Jeshma RAITHATHA and Alice GROSS? Yes those are super awful but not really typical of the kinds of things that befall a group of teenage girls hanging out together at a shopping center. Neither of those were the kind of 'teenage knife crime' the OP is stressing about,' they were abduction rape and murder. Albeit I'm sure she is stressed about stranger danger as well.

Females make up just 13% of London teenage murder victims.

Macarena - isn't this mooching around? How is this different?

Kokusai - the OP's child is a boy

Kokusai I didn't want to get into this. You brought up teenage girls for no reason. Teenage girls are subject to far more unwanted attention on the street, harassment and more, from men of all ages and even including from teenage boys, around the western world (and even more so beyond). It's an everyday occurrence (even at school for many). I posted this in response to you bringing up teenage girls out of nowhere, insinuating it's relatively safe to be a teenage girl (it certainly doesn't feel that way).

MacarenaFerreiro You're one to talk about trouble, didn't you escape from prison

Sorry, if he is one of the boys who runs round creating a nuisance (not clear whether you're referring to all when you mentioned this), can you not talking to him about decent behaviour in a public place?
The 02 has never exactly been a hotspot for crime and we used to congregate at Pizza Hut (RIP).

@JigglyTuff oh I though the OPs child was a girl! I misread that. Thanks :-)

@NoLoveofMine It wasn't for no reason actually. The OP said she was worried about knife crime deaths on London's streets and that was why she didn't want her child to go hang out.

I wrongly thought she had a girl. So it perfectly followed to highlight that generally it isn't girls getting knifed to death on London's streets. It is actually relatively safe for girls, they are less likely to be the victim of violent crime for all violent crimes except rape. It is a US study but I would expect the same trend to hold in the UK.
nortonbooks.typepad.com/everydaysociology/2009/05/who-is-most-likely-to-be-a-crime-victim.html

But anyway, as JigglyTuff pointed out I had the sex of the OPs child wrong... so its not very helpful to talk about how makes are more likely to be assaulted.

Op DD3 doesn't live far from the O2 shopping centre you're talking about. It's a perfectly safe area. Your Ds will be fine but it does sound a very boring 13th birthday celebration.

In my book mooching around shops is in the daytime in pairs. Three kids at the most.

OP appears to be talking about larger groups of kids, in the evening.

(Not familiar with the centre in question and no idea when the shops close).

The O2 is safe if somewhat dull. Good Waterstones. Hope they come up with a more fun idea though!

People are regularly mugged at gunpoint in Hampstead on the school run.

Islington; 13 y old stabbed every week,

Come on now OP, these claims are about as ridiculous as it gets

MacarenaFerreiro You're one to talk about trouble, didn't you escape from prison

Thanks everyone - interesting to hear different approaches to managing safety among teens, and reassuring to hear no one has any concerns with the O2.

I'm afraid there are some people here who don't read the North London news though. Really not exaggerating about teenage stabbings in this borough. Sorry, but you might want to get your heads out of the sand. Maybe if people like you had a look about you and realised what was going on the powers that be might do something. At least don't rubbish me for wanting to understand the world about me. In some ways I'd love to live in your bubble, but I do believe it's worth having a little awareness. I haven't looked up the exact stats, but I'd say a stabbing per week in Islington was not exaggerating overly. It might be one a month but IT'S STILL TOO BLOODY MANY.

Macarena - the O2 is about the size of a department store. Actually it's probably a bit smaller because it's only on 2 floors. There are quite a few chain restaurants, coffee shops, small boutiques and a cinema. There's zero potential for West Side Story type gang stand offs.

It used to have waterfalls and tropical fish but they're sadly long gone. It's really very dull indeed

I would have spent hours there as a teenager, just because I am a bookworm and there's a waterstones. Yes, some teenagers love to hang out in the bookstore!

On the top floor, there are plenty of teenager friendly places to eat. Plus the cinema.

It is actually relatively safe for girls, they are less likely to be the victim of violent crime for all violent crimes except rape.

Street harassment of teenage girls (even in school uniform) doesn't count as serious to you I take it. Anyway, this is an argument for another thread.

Really not exaggerating about teenage stabbings in this borough. Sorry, but you might want to get your heads out of the sand. ffs really?

13yo's are NOT stabbed every week in Islington.

West Hampstead had the mysterious cucumber problem a few years ago. Not quite the same as knife crime though.

"Really not exaggerating about teenage stabbings in this borough.
... I haven't looked up the exact stats, but I'd say a stabbing per week in Islington was not exaggerating overly. It might be one a month but IT'S STILL TOO BLOODY MANY."

So is it one a month or one a week? Because that's a 400% difference. I think you may need to look up the word 'exaggerating'

I think the OP has valid concerns. You can see why a parent would be worried when they read about the increase in knife crime. She is also talking about a 13 year old spending an evening out and about, including presumably having to travel home, which could be reasonably late for that age. When I was 13 my parents wouldn't have allowed me to do this.

But also, yes, there is far less knife crime than the media would have you believe and, not that it means it's in any way not horrific, the vast majority of those involved are known to one another in some way (gangs etc).

Lol at hellokitty. I heard they once ran out of extra virgin olive oil in the Little Waitrose. Windows smashed, cars overturned and set alight. It was quite a scene.

**Maybe if people like you had a look about you and realised what was going on the powers that be might do something.
Sorry OP, I'm a bit stuck on this.

Honestly, hanging around the 02, which will be full of his friends mums and grandma's anyway is really not a problem. It's beyond dull but if they get there early enough they might be able to be really rebellious and look round Tiger for a bit. There's close to Zero chance of anything happening to them unless they get carried away reading the books in Waterstones.

Another American here who spent my teens hanging out at the mall. None of us ever got stabbed or even shot, even in a state where concealed handguns are legal to carry. But if it's indeed true that 13-year-olds are getting stabbed weekly, I would consider moving to a safer area if I were you. (But it's not even close to true so don't worry.)

People worry about kids too much now. Back in the day, my parents didn't have a clue where I was. It was a case of be back for 10 or whatever the time limit was. As long as I was back that was all that mattered. Mobiles phones shouldn't have been invented.