How young is too young to go to the movies alone w/ friends?

I'm talking being dropped off at the door before it starts and picked up after outside... meaning no parental supervision at all in the theater.

Right now, I'm thinking 13 as the absolute youngest and only if I know and trust the other kids my kid is going with. But even then, only on rare occasion and if the kid is known for being smart, mature and responsible.

I'm just curious for the opinions of other parents to see how far out of touch and paranoid I am... I know someone who is considering it for her 11 year old (who is beautiful and looks 16+ but is really naive) and it just seemed far out there to me like just asking for trouble - because she just wouldn't know what to do if she got into a situation with older boys bothering her. (She has this problem at school and finds them 'annoying')

I know I did at 13...I can't remember if it happened any earlier.

I'd have to agree with 13... and only if the friend in question isn't a moron. The fact that most movie theaters are located inside of malls concerns me, personally. I've known too many kids who've been hurt and/or killed by instances of violence inside of shopping malls. They've gone from being a relatively safe hangout for teens to being havens for gangs and other ne'erdowells.

No kids so no clue about now, but I can remember being 6 or 7 and spending the whole day there. Of course it was around the corner from my grandmothers, and it was pay one price for all the films you wanted.

It was also a time when everyone in the neighborhood knew everyone else.

It was also the first time , when I was 10, that I saw boobs. My cousin and I couldn't figure out why we couldn't go see a cartoon(Heavy Metal), We snuck in during the taxi cab scene!

Lots of variables that would dictate my decision, but 13 if everything looks good (good neighborhood, time of day, I trust the friends).

It depends too much of the developmental age of the kid, the physical age is just not a good indicator of behaviors or maturity.
But I guess just as a general statement it could range for me from 10-13
(at 13 they are only 3 years away from driving around town in a car alone so I would hope sitting at a movie after being dropped off then picked up would be manageable.)

I always thought, when I have them and they get to that age, that I'd let my son go around that age.. As for my daughter she'd be locked up til she is 30 at least..

Its hard to put a set age to it, I was young but we had a nice small theater.


Judge it more on your neighborhood, the kids involved and less on age though 13 would be a good starting point, much younger is really too young probably to be out with out supervision.

I believe the 12-14 age range is appropriate as long as has been said the surroundings are appropriate for that age group and of course the maturity level of said child and their company...

From what I understand Illinois is one of the few states that actually has an 'unsupervised' age written into law... It's pretty vague as to when they could apply and enforce it but they clearly set the age at 14...

firesprite said:

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I'd have to agree with 13... and only if the friend in question isn't a moron. The fact that most movie theaters are located inside of malls concerns me, personally. I've known too many kids who've been hurt and/or killed by instances of violence inside of shopping malls. They've gone from being a relatively safe hangout for teens to being havens for gangs and other ne'erdowells.

Which is why mall around here have a no teens without an adult policy at night. I think you have to be at least 18 to be along in the mall after 6 or 7 pm.

Funny... My parents dropped my brother and I at the movies to watch Halloween 4 when I was 9... my brother was 8.

Of course, my parents are the example of things not to do.

I can remember when I was 8 or 9 going all over town with my friends. No one ever worried.

I would say 12 would be fine. I mean, isn't it that age that you're allowed to babysit legally? We have a rating system such as PG-13 that says no one under 13 to be admitted without an adult for a reason. Kids go to the movies without adults before the age of 13.

Times are different. I was just remembering when I was a child in the 70's and early 80's, my sister and I would head out to play and not return until dinner. We were out all day, in the woods, or up the street. We even walked miles to the convenience store and drug store to buy comics. So, while I know bad things happened back then, I feel more kidnappings happen today to young children. They are taken from their driveways. So while we could go to the mall at young ages back then, i feel parents keep a tighter leash on the location of their childrens today. You almost have too. If it were any other year in the past, I would say 9 or 10 would be a good age... but today, nothing under 13.

The problem is basically what moviefreak said that times have changed. I can remember taking the bus to the movies, in a not so good part of town, going to mcd's at a strip mall near the theater, and then having a parent coming to get us.

I would NEVER do that now to my child. The world has become more unsafe these days. I think 13 is a good age, but I feel I'm the over protecting type and would still insist in going in with them and sitting some place else in the theater.

Not at all. These things always happened.

John Wayne Gacy killed from 1972 to 1978
Albert Fish is said to be responsible for the death of 100 children from 1898 to 1935
H.H. Holmes murdered around the turn of the 20th century

I could go on.

The difference is that we're more exposed to it now. Television, computers, sex offender registry... it's constantly in our faces.

I'd be more worried about who kids talk to on their computers rather than when they are in public. Computers makes a child predator's work easier.

I was pretty much on my own (have two older brothers, but they were boring and stupid) from nine years old on.

I would take the bus wherever I wanted to go, do what I wanted.

But that was the 60's and early 70's, times ARE different, maybe we just see more of the scary ****, but I still think there is also more out there.

Thirteen, you gotta let'em go.

21.

I think a good question to ask yourself is: at what age are my kids able to handle an emergency ?

What if the theater caught fire ? What if someone tried to grab them ? What if there was a trouble-maker in the theater harassing them ?

At what age do you feel your kids would know what to do, where to go, and who to ask for help.

Seems like I'm pretty average here on my thoughts about this.

It is tough because kids wonder why you don't trust them, but I have to explain to my oldest (12) it's not HIM I don't trust as much as others... and the the questions of 'why' and I end up weighing enlightening him to the disturbing dangers of the world for his own good, or keeping him in the 'because I said so' but childhood innocence place. He gets a lot of the enlightening, and that's a shame, but it makes him trust my decisions more and not fight them.

I remember walking home or take a short bus ride home from school (on occasions) as young as 8 or 9. I had to walk about 500m from school to get to the nearest bus stop, and had to cross two busy roads. And again walk about 300m after getting off the bus to reach home.

During my time we walked everywhere on our own, or with a couple of friends; from the house to the shops nearby (about 500m away), from the house to my cousin's house (about 1km away), from school to the nearby mall (about 1KM away), and so on...

But I live in a small town, and those were more civilized times

Treadwell said:

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Are times really different? The awareness of bad stuff accumulates as we live our lives. Was it really safer then? Or are we just viewing the past through the naive eyes of our younger selves?

gjustis probably has some stats on that. Even if it is statistically worse, I'd bet it isn't as bad as the common perception. Just as big a factor, IMO, is a cultural change toward more protectiveness/sheltering of children, for good or ill.

You hit the nail right on the head. It is the old rose-colored glasses issue combined with the current "information-age" we live it.

The Crime rate in the US is less now in general then it was "then" yet people worry more. The US is actually a safer place, but every generation tends to feel this way, It goes had in had with things being "better" when they were young.

Always a great source for "real" numbers to help balance out the negativity forwarded by the 24 hour news shows and internet headlines that we are bombarded with.
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm

Treadwell said:

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Are times really different? The awareness of bad stuff accumulates as we live our lives. Was it really safer then?

I think it was safer back in the 70's. We knew the troubled areas and stayed away from them. There were certain streets you knew belonged to another groups of kids so you just rode your bike through and didn't cause any trouble.

These days, you could get shot or beat to death in the wrong area whereas when I was a kid you might get a rock, stick or chain thrown at you.

When I was 15, I rode my bike a few miles to the theater and snuck in with my friend. 15 is a good age to let kids be more adventurous. I went to movies with friends as young as 11 but we always had someone about 16 with us.

We also knew everyone in a 4 block radius of our house. Currently I know the neighbors of maybe 4 houses on each side of our house. I don't trust people these days either!!

FB

I remember being dropped off to see movies with a friend (my parents would drop us off, theirs pick us up) to see Raiders. That'd make me 10/11 at the time. Wow. It never occurred to me til now how young that was. I don't think i'd be doing that these days, though. I agree with your 13

When I was growing up... 12-13...

Nowadays???

I just don't know.

I would trust your own judgement Guri. You have always come across as a very intellectual and fair person.

Depends on who else was gonna be there really.

A LOT of kids smoke pot etc before 13 these days... And I have friends who have caught there kids "going to the movies" basically sneaking out to go do whatever for 2 hours untill their ride shows up.

Not wanting to make you paranoid. But unfortunately in this day and age you NEED to be a little paranoid when it comes to a beautiful near-teen daughter.

Not only are there creeps out there...you also have a lot of youth violence that didn't seem to be as bad in the past. Stabbings, shootings etc are FAR too common. Here in Calgary I recall a stabbing and shooting outside local movie theaters. Ridiculous the lack of respect people have for life these days.