OK - I said I would shut up, but I came back to lurk and found this...
No. At 16, all my dc, all my nieces and nephews, all my friends dc all my dcs friends, all my God children, all the dc of my colleagues, were all at school, so, how can it be 'wrong' to call them school children ?
Because they don't have to be at school. It's their choice how they organize their post-16 education. They could be at college, or doing a correspondence course (as long as it leads to an accredited qualification).
And because they are not "children" in any sense other than the legal one, and we have already established (although it's clear some people don't want to know) that the definition is so that they can benefit from certain legislation and for no other reason.
And this:
Leonardthelemming what you seem to be confusing is the fact that something might be "legal" doesn't mean it is the 'right choice' for a person at that time.
On the contrary, I'm not confused at all. This is the whole point. If a young couple in a relationship are mature enough to plan and organise a weekend away, and go out to work to pay for it, and they obviously want to go, then it clearly is the "right choice" for them.
And if I go on and on about the legal aspects, well someone has to. There is so much rubbish posted on MN where people quote opinion and claim it to be fact, that someone posting for advice could get very confused.