Hello all,
Just curious. My youngest is 15. We have been having discussions about what types of excursions are acceptable? Is a concert I.e Kanye West or the like appropriate for 15? We are really very strict and don’t permit much of anything to date but feel we need to start preparing ourselves. Any feedback is welcome.
Why is Kanye a thing? Snarky remark aside, most kids that age have been to concerts. You may want to loosen up a bit and let him experience mass hysteria in the company of friends. Trust him. It’ll be all right!
The first couple of times my daughter went to a concert with a friend, the other mom and I took turns to go with them. (I ended up reading something on my iPad, drowned in an ocean of squeeling jumping teens.) The third time we both said, “Over my dead body!” and dropped the girls off.
I dont know why Kanye is a thing. Personally I think he is a crappy singer…My 15 year old loves rap. I am actually not sure who he really likes (Actually I just realized that I do know two names of singers he likes-Drake and Florida. I just threw Kanye out for an example.) He is kind of down and feeling sorry for himself right now. (kind of legit so I was looking for a surprise activity but not sure this is it)
I think it’s fine if you’re with him and not fine if you’re not. Disclaimer: I don’t go to concerts; I’m basing my opinion on the behavior of other parents who I think have decent judgment.
@twinsmama I agree thanks…
Concerts are fine IMO (in general–obviously some specific situations may vary). And very few 15 year olds want to go with their parents, which is as it should be. Considering what tickets cost, I wouldn’t want to go if it wasn’t someone I wanted to see.
If you allow your child to attend the concert, as I think you should, it is important to set strict guidelines and make your expectations for their behavior clear. From personal experience, at many mainstream concerts, perhaps more so at EDM than rap, there is a heightened amount of peer pressure to engage in sexual activity and partake in unsupervised drug use. Since I do not personally know your child, you need to judge whether they are mature enough to handle the responsibility and freedom of being unsupervised. Also, if your child is planning on bringing friends, you should evaluate them as well.
Hope my comment was able to provide some amount of insight into concert culture.
@LaxPrep what is EDM?
@Center EDM refers to the genre “Electric Dance Music”
Actually, Electronic Dance Music. FYI, it is the musical genre most associated with MDMA/Molly/Ecstasy.
@doschicos whats MDMA/Molly/Ecstasy? Sorry I dont know this lingo
^ Drugs
I wouldn’t mind the contents. But the environment makes me uncomfortable to send mine alone or with age peers only because of the mentioned sexual and drug activities. She wants to go to a Katy Perry concert if one happens in town, and doesn’t mind me going with her. I wouldn’t mind sending her grown up cousins together instead of me.
I might change my mind when she gets older and becomes 15.
And at the risk of sounding sexist, I might think differently if my child was a boy instead.
I wouldn’t be too worried about Katy Perry.
I agree with @rollout. Katy Perry concert, yes. Electric Daisy Carnival, no.
I’ve been to TONs of concerts. Can’t say I’ve been aware of any sex going on (absent that tent I walked by at Bonnaroo). Drugs, yes they happen at concerts but it can happen other places as well and I don’t think it’s a reason not to allow your kids to go to concerts.
I think (and I’m sure my kids would agree) that I have been a fairly strict parent over my now 18 years of parenting experience. Especially compared to other parents.
With regards to drugs/alcohol, we have had pretty frank conversations about it over the past few years. She’s an athlete who could potentially play in college, so my POV has always been “You get busted for D/A, that’s pretty much the end of that.”
That said, when 7D2 was 15, I bought her a one-day ticket to Governors Ball in NYC because she really liked some of the acts. She went with a friend, unchaperoned.
However, a parent friend of my just offered a single ticket to a Drake concert on FB and I thought about it for a second, then said “Nah…don’t think so.” Tame Impala very different than Drake, IMO. And yeah, I own a bunch of Kanye (and NWA and Public Enemy) CDs…his early stuff is amazing.
On the other hand, I’m going to see Prophets of Rage in concert later this month, and bringing her along.
We let her go into NYC (during the daylight hours ) alone or to meet friends with some regularity…but generally pick her up. For sports training, she had started taking public transit by herself (including NYC subway). We even let her fly home solo from Europe once.
I guess by the second kid, you sort of loosen up. 
Also, it’s pronounced “Flow-RYE-dah”
And spelled Flo Rida.
^^ since that’s where he’s from…
@bodangles oy…