to ask if 13 year olds go camping unsupervised?

[areyoureadytobestrong]

my nearly 14 year old has just called me to say that he and his friends have decided to "go camping" for a night and "could I drive them and maybe help them put up the tent".
I suggested gently that 13 year olds may not be allowed on a campsite unsupervised and was told that "it will be wild camping".

Presumably a group of 13 year olds would never be allowed in a campsite and we need to volunteer the garden?

Hm I think I'd let my 13yo on condition she was with friends her own sex and they were together with parent support, but not if I didn't know all the kids and parents involved and she was aware of risks

Would let them camp in someone's garden but not further at 13 tbh.

In a garden - ok , anywhere else - no .

No bloody way!

Garden - yes.

Campsite with adult supervision - yes.

Campsite on own - fuck no

Wild camping - double fuck no

^

What she said.

Me too, all boys or all girls (or mixed sex siblings/cousins) and you know them all, I'd let them go with fully charged mobiles, torches etc.
DBro and his mates used to go camp in a local field from mid teens. I assume they ate junk food and told scary stories and maybe drunk at 15/16

Garden would be ideal. We'd set up the tent out back and tell ghost stories, have snacks, etc. Usually most of us would be inside before dawn :)

Regular campground. No.

There was a thread on this fairly recently where the DC were planning to camp without permission in a farmers field. I think it was a pretty unanimous no apart from in someone's garden/with permission in a nearby field.

Although - actually it depends where you live. Some places are safer than others.

“...and maybe help them put up the tent.”

Oh hell no!

Unless you live in an Enid Blyton novel, camping without parents is limited to Scouts/Guides or back garden at that age IMO!

I’d not let my 13yo camp without being somewhere supervised. Still a bit too young and vulnerable.

Would let them do so in a friends garden.

If they were about 15 I’d probably let them go to a regulated campsite with friends.

I wouldn't fancy letting my 13 year old do it. But I suppose you could be doing the Duke of Edinburgh award at age 14 and have to camp overnight then, and that's not a huge age difference...

Nope. Not normal and wouldn't be happening for my young teens. A few weeks ago my 12 year old DD and her friends camped in our garden but definitely would not be allowed "wild" or even on a camp site!

But I suppose you could be doing the Duke of Edinburgh award at age 14 and have to camp overnight then

Not sure if times have changed, but the teachers were there to keep an eye on us when I done my DofE.

13, unsupervised, wild camping. Hell no!

Scouts can technically camp unsupervised a in a group from 10.5 years old. I have no idea how regularly this happens in reality.

My 8yo and her friends camp in gardens 'unsupervised' (i.e with a parent downstairs in the house but not in tent with them) so it would be nice to think they could go further afield by 13. Unfortunately bit would be a case of where they could go to do it.

"Scouts can technically camp unsupervised a in a group from 10.5 years old. I have no idea how regularly this happens in reality. "

crikey I did not know that. He is a scout.

Scouts can technically camp unsupervised a in a group from 10.5 years old. I have no idea how regularly this happens in reality.

Never. No leader would send 10yo on their own to a field or a forest without any type of supervision around the campsite.

It's called Passport camping and is supervised from afar rather than picking a random field...
members.scouts.org.uk/FS120805

It's called Passport camping and is supervised from afar rather than picking a random field...
Oh, this is then completely different. I took the statement that the scout rules say that 10yo can totally just go on their own which doesnt sound right since the scouts in the UK have so many rules. I'm no longer in scouts in the UK cause the rules were too much and I really disliked the structure and the need to follow them. But I'm still a member in my home country. We do this semi-supervised thing a fair bit. They are on their own with the activitiesdurijg the day and time unsupervised but then the leaders are at the base camp a but further away but available is necessary. That's good fun.

My oldest will be 1 wouldn't be letting him

No way!

My oldest is 13 at Xmas that is not1!