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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

CGSE year holiday - is this really a thing?

70 replies

TempersFuggit · 20/04/2024 11:47

Hi there, DD is 16 and sitting her CGSE exams this year. She assures me that all of her friends are going back-packing around Europe, and going to Reading festival, and that I am really unreasonable to say that I think she is too young?
What are your teens doing over their CGSE summer?

OP posts:
RampantIvy · 20/04/2024 23:29

I stand corrected @theduchessofspork.
DD is 23 now so I am out of touch. She went camping with some friends when she was 16 and some of them were 17, and they really struggled to find a campsite that would accept them.

MumChp · 20/04/2024 23:30

Reading is common.

Not a lot went in my oldest childrens' year. Neither Reiding ir Europe.

We went on holiday as a family.

exexpat · 20/04/2024 23:35

When a teenager says "all of my friends are doing/have got/are allowed to xxxx" it means possibly one or two of them, or they all want to but no-one's parents have said yes yet.

I agree with everyone else: a UK festival is the normal post-GCSE celebration, and interrailing round Europe is 18+ for lots of practical reasons.

If you are feeling really kind, you might let her bring a friend if you are doing a family summer holiday somewhere sunny with a pool?

ap1999 · 20/04/2024 23:44

Mine did Reading post GCSE's and compromised with an Italian Airbnb villa with 3 mums and 3 16's and allowed them to go to Pisa for the night alone in the middle.. (a prebooked airbnb) .. was cheap as in June before the European holidays rush ..

They loved Reading .. drank too much and probably smoked weed but all came home safely .. then did A levels and went to Uni as planned .

Feebs450 · 21/04/2024 00:06

Ds1 is going to Boardmasters festival for 4 days with a big group, about 20 of them.

Even the thought of that is giving me kittens, I definitely wouldn't be agreeing to him going off round Europe 😂

MumofSpud · 21/04/2024 00:09

Reading - standard - my DD has been the last couple of years (when 16 and 17) - Reading is like a school playground over that weekend!

wonderstuff · 21/04/2024 00:16

I appear to be in a minority on MN but I’ve said no to Reading, we live quite locally and I’ve offered to pick up at the end of an evening but vetoed camping. I’m happy with other festivals but I think the fact that Reading is almost entirely teens and has vast numbers of drunk young men in large groups makes it particularly risky. In the end dd decided it was expensive and I don’t know any kids locally going. I’m working on the assumption it’s as awful to camp there now as it was in the late 90s..

i have agreed to a YHA stay in the UK, I think YHA is one of the few places that will allow groups of unaccompanied 16 year olds.

OnHerSolidFoundations · 21/04/2024 05:37

They loved Reading .. drank too much and probably smoked weed but all came home safely .. then did A levels and went to Uni as planned .

@ap1999 this is what me & my friends were up to. We did go abroad post GCSEs. I dread to think of my children getting up to the things we did. It's terrifying! 😬

Toomuchgoingon79 · 21/04/2024 05:41

Ds and his friends went to something in Liverpool after their GCSE's for 3 days I forget which though- but they stayed in a premier inn lol

girlsyearapart · 21/04/2024 06:07

My dd16 is going to Reading with loads of her friends.
She turns 17 10 days later.
I am not looking forward to her going 😳
No holiday with friends but she’s trying to convince Dh to take her ‘somewhere hot to get a tan for prom’

SnapdragonToadflax · 21/04/2024 06:23

I went to Reading after my GCSEs in 1998 😂 Yes of course there are lots of drugs and drinking and horrible men, but so long as they're with a decent group of friends and have some street smarts they'll be fine.

No to interrailing, they'd be too young.

TerfTalking · 21/04/2024 06:25

Galliano · 20/04/2024 11:49

Leeds festival - rite of passage
European holiday - post a levels only

💯 this in my world

BobnLen · 21/04/2024 06:38

Mine went to Leeds Festival but didn't go on any holidays or to Europe until over 18. There was a lot of talk about holidaying in the UK but when it came down to it, it was too difficult under 18. I would probably say a reluctant yes to the festival. When he was over 18 he managed to get jobs at a few festivals each year including Glastonbury and said that Leeds and Reading were for 16 year olds and didn't like them.

thehousewiththesagegreensofa · 21/04/2024 07:14

DC1 is a couple of years off GCSEs but quite a few of her friends had older siblings doing them last year and most of them seemed to either do a long weekend away with one of their parents or go abroad for a few nights with a few friends and a couple of the mums.
I know DD now thinks that this is the norm and is expecting something similar,
I didn't hear as much about Reading but that could be because it was in the holidays.

wigywhoo · 21/04/2024 07:26

Is school not running anything? DS is off to Borneo.

RampantIvy · 21/04/2024 07:30

@wigywhoo World Challenge is incredibly expensive. I know the young person has to do some fund raising but in most cases the parents pay for most of it.

Zodfa · 21/04/2024 07:45

These kinds of festivals used to seem so big and grown up when I was a teen. Now they sound like kids' clubs!

WarningOfGails · 21/04/2024 07:54

wigywhoo · 21/04/2024 07:26

Is school not running anything? DS is off to Borneo.

I think this is extremely unusual!

clearmoon · 21/04/2024 07:57

TempersFuggit · 20/04/2024 14:02

Reading Festival seems to be the thing here - is it ok for teens? I imagine loads of drugs and vulnerable young girls 😱😱😱 but am very susceptible to catastrophising (sp?)

Reading is the single most dangerous festival in the uk, statistically head and shoulders above all the others. You are not catastrophising, you are realistic.

It has come close to cancellation in the past as noone wanted to insure it

gingercat02 · 21/04/2024 08:01

Galliano · 20/04/2024 11:49

Leeds festival - rite of passage
European holiday - post a levels only

DS is going to Leeds for the day on the Friday. No way was he camping at only just 16.
He's coming on holiday with us before the school holidays start (one of the many joys of an only)
No one has mentioned adult free holidays. I agree with Sumner after A levels like I did.

Timeforanewnam · 21/04/2024 08:15

My daughter is the same age and often asking to go on trips like this .

I don’t worry too much , she currently has 37p in her account so can’t even afford the bus to town 🤷‍♀️

Ivalueloyaltyaboveallelse · 21/04/2024 08:16

DS will be coming on holiday with us. Getting some sun, exploring and relaxing for a fortnight.

sinesperanza · 21/04/2024 08:29

I went I retailing by myself round Europe at 16 but this was 20 years ago and it was difficult to book accommodation as an under-18 then, so it must be near impossible now

TheBirdintheCave · 21/04/2024 08:44

My parents took my brother and I on holiday post GCSEs and post A-Levels. It wouldn't have occurred to me to go away with friends or to a festival.

RampantIvy · 21/04/2024 09:18

clearmoon · 21/04/2024 07:57

Reading is the single most dangerous festival in the uk, statistically head and shoulders above all the others. You are not catastrophising, you are realistic.

It has come close to cancellation in the past as noone wanted to insure it

Show quote history

I think Leeds must come a close second. I'm in Yorkshire and it gets a lot of negative press in the local news.

DD was a volunteer at Leeds 5 years ago, and there were no go areas even for the volunteers.

If any parents on here have DC going to Leeds this year and who are camping they need to avoid the red campsite (if it is still called red) at all costs. This is the party hard campsite, but sadly, it isn't just partying that happens there.

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