I’m not on mums net so I’ll ask this one here!!
B junior is 16 & has a developing interest in music. Not confined to the carp from today’s artists; his tastes extend to classic rock/metal artists including Led Zep, Floyd & Motorhead. He wants to go to concerts in London or Birmingham – we live near Northampton. No problems with him travelling alone. He’s been on trains into London several times a year as long as he can remember. He’s confident with the Underground, buses and a taxi home from the station.
My issue is with venues and locations. He’s been to Wembley with daughter’s b/f and alone to the Royal Albert Hall on a couple of occasions. They’re big venues, lots of other folks there who’ve paid enough to be sure they’re committed not just out for the night. These places also have well defined exit routes through safe areas and with safety in numbers when the event finishes.
He now wants to go to hear a band at a club venue up a back jigger off Charing Cross Road together with a female friend from school. Not a date just a shred interest The place has a capacity of 300 (standing) and admission is less than a tenner. The sort of place youngsters go after work with a good band incidental to the drinking and socialising. It’s on the fringes of Soho in an area where sex shops proliferate. The nearest tube, Tottenham Ct Rd Northern Line being closed, is Leicester Sq.
His Mum and I said no to this one. I don’t think it’s a part of London where two 16yo should be 70 miles from home at 11pm. He’s a bright personable lad but I’m not confident he’s sufficiently streetwise to cope with any potential hassle either in the venue or outside. Dad’s now bottom of the Pops!!
How do other parents deal with this sort of thing?
|
