To leave 13 year olds in a cinema

[Sarahcoggles]

DS and a friend are going to the cinema. Film will end about 9pm.
Both sensible and keen to not be accompanied by a parent!
It's a cinema in an "out of town" shopping centre.
I'm a single parent so I'll be taking them on my own.
Both kids have phones.

Would you:-

1. insist on going into the film with them.
2. let them go in on their own but stay in the area (shops will be closing during the film so would end up sitting in the car)
3. leave them in there and go home, a 20 minute drive away

Number 3!

Friends and I aged 12 were getting the train on our own to the nearest city to go shopping on Saturdays... Your DS and friend should be sensible enough to sit and watch the film and then wait for you in the cinema lobby or something.

I can't wait until my DS is old enough to be left somewhere while I have time to relax!!

I was going to the movies without my parents since I was 10/11. And I let my DD go to the movies and theme parks alone at 13. However my ex wouldn't let his kid go anywhere alone til they were 15/16 so everyone has different comfort levels around this.

#3

Yes I've have left mine in the cinema from about age 10.

Drop them off and pick them up. Although at 13 I'd let mine walk home now.

3 definately. My oldest is 13 and has been going with friends since about 11. Usually with one or two friends.

My 11 year old goes to our local cinema with his friends most weekends. I couldn’t imagine going and sitting with them. Of course just drop them off and let them enjoy their film. They need to have these little bits of independence to build up their confidence.

I would check there's no restrictions on unaccompanied children at later showings, but other than that drop and collect if they're sensible and have phones. Remind them of good behaviour and turning their phone on silent during the film

My 12yo daughter went to the cinema for the first time with a friend a few weekends ago, in the afternoon. I just waited in the carpark as she was nervous about buying a ticket, but she texted me from inside to say they were seated and fine.

It would depend on the child. My DS1 I would have had no problem leaving him, Ds3 though is huge overthinker and would want me to stay.

If it's the first time, I'd probably do 2, but find a coffee shop and take a book.

Yeah 3 is fine but 2 is adequate if you don’t want to drive for an extra 40 mins.

3 unless 2 suits you better.

3

I don't drive so my 13 year old gets the bus to the cinema and back on her own.

They're 13 not 8!

I went to the cinema tonight and there was tons of 12+ year olds there in groups without adults.

My 13 year old got the bus (30 min journey) to a shopping park and watched a film and I picked them up later on before it went dark. I think you need to trust them!

20 minutes each way - couldn't be bothered to drive home, have maybe an hour there then launch out again.
Must be somewhere you can relax with a coffee, or as suggested above, food shopping or a meal.

Mine would be taken to the train station and picked up from there again!...i wouldn't even drive the 20mins...🤣🤣

Really? At 13 I was regularly going to the cinema, my DD's did too by then

I went to see jurassic world the other day. Started at 7 ended by 9:45 so a bit shorter than 3 hours out.

to get the most time chilling at home- they make their own way there and you pick them up?

2 or 3 - whichever is easier and more comfortable for you. They're definitely old enough for either option to be fine.

It's like a minefield being a mother isn't it?

Don't know how much help this is as I'm 31, but my mum would have left me to go to the cinema and then picked me up afterward at 13 for sure. I was a sensible kid too.

The toilets would be my only concern. Sometimes they can be very isolated. I remember hearing of an incident involving a child in a cinema toilet.

People say ‘relax with a coffee’ but how long do you relax with a coffee? They’ll be in the cinema for 2/3 hours. To me that would feel like such a long and boring time sitting in a costa.

At 13 they’ll surely often be using public toilets alone? And even if she went and sat in the cinema with them, surely she wouldn’t be taking her 13 year old to the loo?

Out of curiosity, do posters not allow their 12/13 year olds out alone? To my mind a child that age should be absolutely fine to go out for the afternoon, and definitely should be safe to use a public toilet by themselves.

I'd expect them to get a bus there and then I'd collect them!

We're rural and there's no bus

I'd go see another movie or go shopping and then wait in the car. You seem worried like this is all new so if I was in that situation thats what I'd do. Eventually you'd feel comfortable to come back when they called you I imagine.