My DD, aged just turned 15, tells me I am way over-protective compared to her friends’ parents. Am I over-reacting or being sensible? My DD had been looking forward to a party – apparently the ‘birthday boy’ (16) had booked a function room in a nearby hotel. But the night before the party, I was told it was in his house instead – 5 km away. I asked for the address, his full name, how my DD knew the boy (his little brother is in her class) and the parents’ phone number (I don’t know them or the boy) to check if they would be there. When she couldn’t get the parents’ number, she and her two friends (aged 14) decided to go out to dinner instead. So, they decided at 6pm on a Saturday night that they would go to a Nando’s in the city centre (small city of 300,000) next to a dodgy street where in the past 6 months alone a 15-year-old has been shot and a McDonalds put under lockdown because of a stabbing. I said they could go to our local high street instead which they did. But then, after dinner, and after telling me they were taking a taxi straight from the restaurant to one of the friend’s houses to have a sleepover, they walked 1.5 miles, at 9pm to some shops near their school and called a taxi from there. When I found out, I made my DD come home and miss the sleepover. So here’s the thing, one girls’ mother was willing to drive the girls to and pick up from the party, but wasn’t bothered about knowing if an adult would be there. The other mother was happy to drop the girls off at Nando’s and they’d get a taxi back (from the dodgy street). Neither seemed upset that the girls said they were taking a taxi home but walked to some shops a mile and a half away instead. Over-reacting or sensible? What limits should a (recently turned) 15-year-old have? I guess I should add that she is usually sensible, but last time she went out with her friends (to a park) she called me to come get her and I found her drunk, covered in mud, crying and throwing up – and her friends had left.