Tweens

Updated on July 05, 2012
R.M. asks from Salinas, CA
10 answers

At what age have you/would you let your child go to the movies with a group of friends (non co-ed) by themsleves? They would be dropped off and picked up by parents. I am just curious because my daughter will be 12 soon and she and her friends want to see movies I really do not want to pay for myself to see. I just do it so they can go and then sit a couple rows behind them so they feel like they are by themselves :)

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So What Happened?

Thanks for the input! It's funny because she hasn't even asked yet but I anticipate it coming up soon as she is going into 7th grade. My mom swears I wasn't allowed to go to a movie without an adult until I was in highschool, but I am pretty sure I was younger. I am also pretty sure my daughter will soon ask about going to the mall with friends by themselves etc. I am just kind of paranoid. I keep reading all these news articles about sex trafficking of young girls and it freaks me out.

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T.S.

answers from San Francisco on

11/12 is the perfect age for this.
They need a little independence, it's important for their development :)

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S.G.

answers from Chicago on

It depends how mature the kid. I would say 12 or 13.

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S.R.

answers from Washington DC on

At 11-12, they're old enough to be dropped off and picked up. Not a big deal.

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I.V.

answers from New York on

Around 12 or when they're mature.

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

My boys are 7 and 10. We usually go to the Cineplex, and the boys go see a kids movie in one theatre, and I go see a grown up movie in another theatre. We meet at an agreed spot in the lobby afterward. We've done that for the past year. Before that I sat through their movies with them, mostly so I could monitor the younger one's behaviour. I would probably drop them off and pick them up now if the theatre were closer to home.

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C.M.

answers from Chicago on

If you trust your daughter and some friends, I think 12 is okay to drop off. Especially if they have a cell phone.

A friend of mine does this and she has a signal for her daughter. Since you are supposed to shut off your cell phone, she makes her daughter put it on vibrate and put it in her pocket. Then if it rings while she's watching the movie, she HAS to exit the theater if it vibrates and answer it. That way she knows she can get ahold of her daughter in case of an emergency if she's in the theater.

Good luck! I think they will be fine. My daugher's friend's mom always takes them to the movie theater in the mall. Then the mom goes shopping while the kids watch the movie.

N.P.

answers from San Francisco on

I didn't start going out with my friends alone until mid high school when my friends started getting cars and their licences and we bummed around together without having to involve our parents with the need for transportation. So... around 16. If my mother was going to bother to drive us someplace, she just stuck around since she was going to have to take us home again anyhow. If she didn't want to see the movie we were watching, she'd pay for a ticket to a movie she wanted to see that was starting within ten minutes of our show and we'd meet up in the lobby after our respective shows were over.

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

I waited till around 12 but mostly because that was when I got them cell phones so they could call me when the movie was over.

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A.A.

answers from New York on

I would say 15, in this day and age kids want to glow up to fast. If you don't want to see that movie opt for another movie then met in a certain location. This way you are trusting your child while having a peace of mild you are not far away.

I was 16 when I was allow to go to the movies or a party. All the responsible parents made sure someone drop them off and someone pick them up. Things weren't as bad as they are now.

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A.D.

answers from Minneapolis on

Hi Renee, I allowed my 12 year old to ride her bike to our neighborhood movie theater for a matinee last summer with her best friend. She was 11 (almost 12). I will sometimes drop her off and pick her up from movies with a friend or group of girls. I did not allow her to go to a movie just her and a boy this year, though she asked once this year (7th grade). I would allow her to go in a group of mixed genders if there were at least 5 kids (so no one on one or no double date situation). But so far, that has not come up.

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