New Age Parenting

OK...so I musta missed this one in parenting 101 (and granted, I took that course MANY years ago)...but could someone please help me out and tell me what chapter this was in, so I can go back and review it. I'll probably have grand kids some day and want to make sure I get this s*** right the next time around.

So we go to the movies last night (8:30 show) and kids...dozens of kids...12-13-14-15 y.o. (hard to tell these days) kids were already lining up for the midnight-30 (and later) showing/s of the new Hairy Potter flick. By the time our movie got out at 10pm the number had probably swelled to a couple of hundred kids. So given this observation the obvious conclusion is that -something- must have changed in the 7 years since my youngest went off to college...So just for clarification...is it now ohhhhh-kay (or in parental vogue) to drop off or to allow a young driver to escort a group of unsupervised adolescents...to/at a movie...at midnight...on a school night...with no security personnel in sight ?

There isn't a snowball's chance in Hell that my son, currently 14, would be allowed to attend a midnight movie without supervision, let alone on a school night. Just my .02 cents

There isn't a snowball's chance in Hell that my son, currently 14, would be allowed to attend a midnight movie without supervision, let alone on a school night. Just my .02 cents

It does my heart good to know that there are (still) such "mean" parents around.

In MN where I lived for 18 years...and where there was a county wide curfew...This kind of child/parental behavior would have earned a hundred of so parents a citation, a trip to see the judge and quite possibly a visit to their home from the County division of child welfare.

There isn't a snowball's chance in Hell that my son, currently 14, would be allowed to attend a midnight movie without supervision, let alone on a school night. Just my .02 cents

That pretty much sums it all up. And since hers and mine are best buds, make it a double.

There isn't a snowball's chance in Hell that my son, currently 14, would be allowed to attend a midnight movie without supervision, let alone on a school night. Just my .02 cents

That pretty much sums it all up. And since hers and mine are best buds, make it a double.

Was Amy's son the pleasant young man who came to the BBQ with your son ? Good kids...both of 'em.

As the saying goes "Nothing good happens after midnight!" There is no way I'd let my teen be out after midnight without a parent to see a movie. It's just too dangerous even if they're good kids..drunks out on the road, etc.

what about these parents that drop these kids at the mall for hours on end with no supervision.

I don't do much mauling these days but when the girls were young we used to (it seems) live at the Mall of America (the "Taj ma-Mall")...for a couple of years after it was first built there were issues with <eh-hem> what I will politely term roving bands of vibrant urban youths. The mall finally put in a curfew policy where after 5pm (6pm ?) all children under 16 had to be escorted by a real live adult. Problem (mostly) solved.

Wow..I really miss the Vogue's midnight movies.. I don't think that I'm THAT old but that's what I did as a teen.
The movies......No you haven't missed out on anything...This is just what most of the kids are able to do these days.
The days of buying a six-er and driving around are over...The movies are where they mingle, cort and coo...... What has changed is the Drive-In factor.....
Damn Steve... You crusty old fart....You're working on becoming a borderline curmudgeon...Can I buy you a cup at the White Castle?
Should I start a thread about where older gentleman sit for hours and sip coffee?
Damn those old people and their pointless conversation...

Kids will be and always will be Kids... Sooner or later you have to give them the opportunity to grow up!
Is it appropriate for a larger group of teens be allowed to go out unsupervised? If the kids can't go to the movies, Is it OK if they go to a football game? Where the hell are they supposed to go? In this age of texting and social media, are they ever allowed to leave the house? Does it really make a difference?
Where are you James Dean?

I think we need to clarify when we say "teen". A 13 year old is a very different animal from a 17 year old.
13 and unattended at a midnight movie? Not mine. 17? Sure, no problem. Ok even for 16, MAYBE 15 but a 13 year old Harry Potter fan? No way.

Im with Dan on this one. Steve,things are so much different now. I think going to the movies with a large group of friends for a "special" showing of a very popular movie is just fine. I guarantee you that the 13 to 16 yo kids are much less naive than when you were that age. Most of the kids in that age group that we know are pretty sharp. Also everyone is much more connected now, you can even track your kids via gps on their phone. I would guess that a good percentage of the kids sent a text back home at some point to say they were OK. Im not saying roaming the streets at midnight is cool,but to go out late for a special event seems fine.
Oh yeah by the way Steve....I dont think anybody is still taking their steady to the malt shop and dancing the Lindy anymore either.

I understand they taste just like chicken.

Wait, isn't this the thread about cats?



Never mind.

Wow..I really miss the Vogue's midnight movies..

Hmmm...let's see here what I remember....Rocky Horror, The Warriors, The Song Remains the Same, Woodstock, Gimme Shelter, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Heavy Metal, The Wall, and of course I never missed Cheech n' Chong's "Up in Smoke" nor Monty Python's " The Holy Grail" !!....

After looking at this list it probaly explains why I turned out the way I am...

I don't have a problem letting my kids grow up. My teenager is with his herd at Tinseltown practically every weekend unchaperoned. I do have a serious problem with a midnight movie on a school night.

Was Amy's son the pleasant young man who came to the BBQ with your son ? Good kids...both of 'em.

Steve - guilty as charged. Thanks for the kind words; the boy came home saying you had the "coolest basement ever!" Not exactly sure what was down there - there are some things a mother doesn't want to know!

Hell, come to think about it, I would put "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" up against "Harry Potter" anyday..

Sorry for hijacking your thread Steve...back to parenting..