Teen girls clubbing

[Duchess87]

Hi my dd is 18 and has her last A level exams this week . She has plans of clubbing and raves with her friends which is perfectly normal at her age & staying at friends houses . However why do I feel worried sick , I trust her but everyone is vunerable after a few drinks .
I can’t smother her in Cotton wool but we sadly hear about stabbings and crime every day .
Please don’t judge me , I’m happy for her to spread her wings .

I don’t have firsthand experience with this (my oldest is only 16), but I remember my clubbing days when I was very young and shouldn’t have even been there.

You can’t wrap your daughter up in cotton wool, but you can keep her informed so she wont make silly choices. Things like never leaving a drink unattended, keeping herself and friends safe (staying together, watching out for each other), making good choices when it comes to relationships and safe sex. Even making sure she has access to safe transport home and knowing where to wait in a safe location.

Small things to keep her safe, so she doesn’t have to learn from mistakes like I did (thankfully nothing bad happened for me, but thinking I was just lucky).

I am not looking forward to my children going through this stage, and having to let go without worrying so much.

Good luck OP.

You are entitled to your feelings but not much you can do about it, she is now an adult so can do what she likes

Make sure that you're her primary contact in case she needs a ride home after too many drinks.

If it helps OP - I was describing 'clubbing' to my kids the other day - and I was just lost in a happy daze remembering it! this was the late 90s/ early 2000s - no phones, no way of finding mates if you lost them, no way of keeping in touch with parents - I was out in London clubbing - all night! from about 16.

They were some of the best days of my life - amazing memories of dancing for hours, just being in the moment with the music and making friends.

this is the best bit of life - before work, kids, family time! Let her enjoy her youth.

I dread my daughter reaching this age, but my sister actually embraced this by taking her daughter on her first clubbing experience when she turned 18. She said it calmed her nerves because she got to relive the clubbing scene and her daughter had a better idea of what to expect when she went with her friends.

The best thing is, she still goes clubbing with her daughter and she's 52!

Clubbing after (and during!!) A-levels was the best time of my life!! Far better than university. Let her enjoy it. Have a chat about drugs/risky behaviour whatever and then let her roll with it. I’m jealous!!

Me and my mates were obsessed with clubbing in those days (late 90s) and there were times when we probably did risky stuff but on the whole we were pretty sensible. We had a “no woman leaves alone” rule (we didn’t have smart phones etc!) and looked out for each other.