Letting 15 year old Son travel to Europe by rail

I'd be embarrassed, and worried that people might assume I thought the law didn't apply to me. 1

KA s kids do not live in rural Devon. They live in London. They do not board. They go to a West London secondary school.

He was a few weeks shy of his 16th Birthday.

He is now 16, he and his pal are back home safe and sound. I hope they had a brilliant time.

back in the late 1950s when I was 15 and my sister 13 we flew unaccompanied from London to Malaysia to for the school holidays. Our father was in the army and posted there.

We were theoretically under the care of a stewardess, but that supervision was more obvious by its absence than its presence.

The plane couldn't land at Kuala Lumpur for some reason so we were flown on to Singapore, where we were put up in the Raffles Hotel overnight and left to our own devices. The 'supervising' stewardess disappearing off with the rest of the crew as the plane was scheduled to fly on to Hong Kong.

My father rang us there, not to express his concern or worry but to tell us to make the most of it has he could not afford to pay for overnight stays at the Raffles Hotel.

By the time I was 17 I had made this journey several more times and at 18 was travelling on my own to and from Belgium and Germany, dependent on my parents being at the airport or railway station to meet me.

All of this long before mobile phones, and in my parents' house even having a phone at home.

Children only become resilient if they have opportunities to build their resilience and I am pretty sure that Kirsty Allsopp's son will have been travelling around, first locally, and then more widely this country on his own for sometime. May well have been off to music festivals - and of course, he would have a mobile phone. Entirely missing in my chidlhood, where, as I said, my parents didn't have phone either.

Here’s my take on it.

From the age of 12 I was travelling unaccompanied on all forms of transport - UK and abroad, so yes, I would be seen off at the departure point but after that it was up to me to work out what to do. It would have been explained thoroughly so I understood what was happening.

So, for example, I might be collected by taxi from my school, dropped off at the railway station to buy my ticket and find the train and board it, get off at the right stop (usually with all my belongings - not always!) and be met at the other end.

Or, it might be a taxi, train to London, find another taxi to West London Air Terminal, get the bus transfer to Heathrow Airport, check myself and my bags in, fill out the immigration forms etc etc, board flight, transit through the next airport for a connecting flight, transit through another airport for another connecting flight, keep my tickets, passport etc safe, track down my bags and deal with it when they got lost, then a taxi from destination to home.

And all this was fine if it went without a hitch: when it didn’t, I had to sort it out and get on with it as best I could.

Another time I was escorted as part of a group of unrelated school children, to Paris before being put on a train on my own, to Toulouse. The return journey was overnight, (and yes, even being in the top bunk/couchette didn’t completely protect me from the exploratory hand from the bunk below, but there were many other people who would have come to my aid if needed. I just rolled over and faced the wall and it soon stopped) and then I had to get myself to a different station, ferry and train…
And so on, and so on.

The outrage over these kids is bonkers. They are old enough to vote and decide who should run the country but need their hand held to catch some trains?

I don't feel at all outraged,

My younger son certainly went abroad with similar age friends when he was 16, but not I think at 15. (I’m not sure -it’s a long time ago.) He was perfectly capable of it, and it didn’t occur to me to try to stop him. My elder son wouldn’t have wanted to do it - it’s a matter of personality.

I had family in Germany and travelled there on my own from the age of 15. My children from the age of ten, like Monica, ferried themselves from school to where ever we were posted supposedly under the eye of the airline but basically on their own. None of them wanted family holidays after reaching 15/16 and were very capable of looking after themselves on holidays with friends.

I see my grandchildren having very little independence or chances to spread their wings and learn to take risks and deal with problems. I hope they are able to cope when they leave home eventually. As parents we have to prepare our kids to cope with the modern world and the sooner they start to gain independence I believe they will find the path to adulthood smoother.

They are old enough to vote and decide who runs the country
Scotsmum In what country can you vote at 15 ?

No I wouldn’t want a 15 year old going inter railing with a 16year old friend Mine were 17 when they had their first
holiday with a friend and they were sensible
Not so much what they could do wrong but what could happen to them and I do think travel today is much different to when my children grew up

My husband went travelling through Europe the year he was 15. He was with 2 friends.
They took a tent and were arrested twice - once for pitching the tent on a beach and once for loitering as they waited for a café to open for breakfast!

I didn't "do Europe" but did take trains and a ferry from the north to the isle of Wight to visit my aunt from age 10. Initially I had help crossing London from an old friend of my dad's - but I navigated the ferry.

We both had a great time.
And the sense of achievement is immense.

We know our own children. At 15 some children are like 18 year olds but plenty of 18 year olds are like children these days. You will see this if ever you work with young people.

I think if they are "up for it" and capable we know...
And phones are a safety net too.
That said, social services still need to investigate complaints - even if malicious.

I was married at 16. No mobiles, nor phones in many homes. I knew perfectly well how to care for myself - my parents raised me to be self sufficient.

I'd imagine he has been all round the UK and been to many countries with his parents - somewhat the norm by now, lesson in self sufficiency. Surely his parents gave him a mobile, numbers to call if needed.

I also wonder if KA’s extensive network of friends and colleagues were looking out for them. Did they stay in hotels or maybe in private homes some of the time?

I assume they had access to plenty of cash and the best means of communication available.

I think I read that she’d talked about it on X / Twitter - and someone reported it to Social Services then.

I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if my 15 year old son was holidaying in a foreign country with a 16 year old friend. He may have been mature for his age but not worldly wise…

I wouldn’t have reported his parents though…..

I hadn't long turned 15 when I travelled by rail by myself 300 miles to stay with a friend, crossing London in the process. This was the 1970s, so I don't think would have been unusual then. My parents would have given me advice. KA will know her son and presumably only allowed this because she knew that he and his friend were mature enough to cope. They would also have mobile phones, so she would be contactable if needed, and they could give updates on their whereabouts

Well, i think I'll let my boy start driving then.
He'll be seventeen soon, and I know him well...

Legal age to get married is now 18 (apparently this received Royal Assent in 2022). In England, school leaving age is 18, unless at college or doing apprenticeship.
So this lad is a schoolchild.
There's no point in saying what we did in 1960s or our children in 1990s, it's a different world, a more dangerous world, especially for teenagers.

I’m with Kirsty on this. 30 years ago I let my 15 year old daughter travel to France by coach and rail with a 16 year old friend to visit her French exchange student. No mobile phones then of course. She got there and back without incident and had a wonderful time. She was a sensible girl and I had no qualms about agreeing to let her go. We each know our own child!

I live in Scotland. The voting age is 16; you can register to vote from the age of 14.
This lad was only a week or two away from his 16th birthday, and now is 16; the friend he went with, was already 16.

Sorry, that should have said that the post was in reply to BlueBelle

In the UK you can join the army at 16.

In Scotland you can also still get married at 16. Would anyone expect the couple to stay under parental care? Just wondering…especially if they have become parents themselves.

In the late 50s, I was put on a ship sailing from Hull to Hamburg, "care of the Captain ". I was 11. The voyage took two nights with a day in between. They were small freighters which took a few passengers. My abiding memerory is being told that it was time that I was in bed by one of the other passengers, I was obviously annoying them! My German grandmother met me in Hamburg. If Kirstie Allsops son is at a London day school, he will be quite used to dealing with transport. I think she was quite right to let him go, children are expected to be much more independent in Europe.

I think she likes the attention
Barons daughter

A 15 year old is still a minor therefore should travel with a responsible adult. Is illegal for a child to stay unaccompanied by a responsible adult in a holiday rental or hotel. His 16 year old friend would be a few years short of being considered a responsible adult which is 18 in most countries. Then again I suppose KA has a network of well off friends/family living in Europe who would meet him at the station and whisk him away to their villa etc.
This is not a run of the mill mum she can afford to throw money at this and make sure her child was not thrown to the wolves.
But 15 is very young, as is 16, and there are a multitude of dangers out there. KA must have nerves of steel. I certainly couldn’t have done this when my kids reached 15.

I’m surprised so many on here think this is acceptable.
A fifteen year old, travelling around Europe for three weeks with a sixteen year old friend? Really? What could possibly go wrong.

I’m certain Kirsty would have said how ‘sensible’ and ‘mature’ he is for his age, but anything could have happened, and young lads that age don’t have the necessary life experience and maturity to deal with any difficult or dangerous situation.

Just my opinion of course and others clearly disagree.