What time to come home for 16 year old?

[Gettingcoldbutcosy]

16 year old ds, not sure what time is reasonable to come in at night. If he's at a friend's or girlfriend's house then that's fine, but I'm talking about just out walking around.

It's very dark now and Ds wants to go walking around with his mates. None of them seem to have a curfew.

At 16 I wouldn't expect him to have a curfew

My DS at 16 had a 10pm curfew, he was hard to wake up for school, so for me that was late enough and the time that we went to bed. It’s different if they are actually going somewhere, but just hanging around, they get plenty of time before 10pm.

It's their most significant school year! How could it be ok to have no curfew? I definitely guide my 16 year old in making reasonable decisions. Being in by 10 if there's not anything organised is reasonable. Obviously with plans at the weekend, later is fine.

Midnight at weekends.

10/11pm school nights.

My DS did martial arts and the training often didn't finish until 9:30. Bike ride home and he was often later than 10.

Ds is at 6th form if that makes a difference.

If it's an organised activity I wouldn't give a curfew, providing there was a plan for getting home safely. This is just wandering around the local area though. In fairness they are just going for a walk.

I say to be home for 10 which he does stick to but say I am being ridiculous.

10pm on a school night then later on Friday/Saturday night here. What time does he go to bed and wake up? My kids accepted 10 because they came home and wanted a slow settling down to sleep routine before bed around 11.

I think 10pm on a school night is reasonable, later on the weekend

Mine was 10pm school nights, no curfew at weekends at school
When I moved to college (residential) it was 11pm weekdays

I wouldn’t give a 16 year old a ‘curfew’ tbh. I think at that age they need to be learning to self-regulate.

I'd go with self regulating but reassess if he seems very tired and/or is disturbing the household by coming in late.

There will be lots of sixth form students with evening jobs that don't finish until 10pm, and then they have to get home.

What time are you happy to stay up till presuming you are?
It's your house you can decide what time people come in.

I wouldn't want DD walking around until 10, and I'd not want her coming in then either on a school night. I'd set an earlier curfew because I want and need to get settled but also offer to host the friends, rather than wandering. Weather is going to change soon they won't want to be out

If she was working, at a structured activity then that would be different and I would support both of them.

My DS is just turned 16 - August birthday, and is in 6th Form. Over the summer the ‘hanging around’ curfew was start to make your way home (bus journey) as it gets dark. He was always home by 10.30.
Pick Up from a house party is 11.30 and we’ll pick up from a gig until around that time too.

Now it’s getting darker I think curfew will be 10pm until Spring and after that I think we’ll release the curfew altogether as he heads towards 17. He’s always been reliable with timings and is self-sufficient and he’s banked a lot of trust