Croydon to Kingston

[Jock Stewart]

My 16 yr old has just finished his GCSEs and is now partying. Which is fair enough. He's sociable, extrovert and physically confident (rugby player and boxer). I don't have a prob with him not coming back from parties until midnight as they tend to be in a 6 mile radius. He'll have a couple of cans of beer, again which I don't have a prob with.

However he's out 3 or 4 times a week and I'm just not prepared to pick him up at 11.30. (I did pick him up one night but only because that party was in darkest Ewell with poor public transport.

This evening he's going to a party in Croydon, 10 miles away. We live in Kingston. The journey is 1hour 15mins door-to-door, and involves 1 tram, 1 train and a bus.

My question is, is this a journey too far for a 16 year old btw 10.45 and midnight? Am I too lasses-faire, or over-thinking? Fwiw I believe London to be a relatively safe place.

Note: Please keep jibes about Croydon to a minimum (though I accept that could be hard)!

[jsabine]

A bit over an hour, with two changes, back by midnight. Is he going to be pushing the last tram/train/bus? Is there a fallback if he is, and misses it? (Nightbus, known reliable cab number, Uber account?)

Seems OK to me - but bear in mind I don't have any kids, and think it was entirely reasonable of my parents to let me go to Poland by train when I was 15, shortly before the Berlin Wall came down. I'd been doing 10 miles home from school - a walk through Edinburgh, then a bus - on my own since I was 8.

[Jock Stewart]

Yeah, he was fine. Home by midnight. Fallback was me, as I stayed up and, yes, he has über. Going to Poland at 15 is impressive.

[hellymedic]

Sister (17 months my junior) and I were fairly sheltered but parents were happy enough for us to take the train (and associated ferries) to family in Copenhagen just after I'd finished O Levels in 1974. I suppose things have changed a bit.

[hatler]

That seems reasonable to me, with appropriate back-up in place, which there was.

[hellymedic]

I don't think there was much back-up. We were familiar with the route and routines. There were no mobile phones and we were out of touch with the world for 24 hours. I had just turned 16 and Susan was 14½ but it was fine.

[Jock Stewart]

Yes. I was over-worrying and over-thinking it. Easy to say with hindsight!