Teen Parenting

Five boys, a monsoon fort trek near Lonavala, and no adult going

cinnamon_lantern_7761

My elder son has just started class 12 and his friends want to do a Sunday trek before the year gets serious. Local train to Lonavala, one of the forts there, back by evening. Five of them, all 16 or 17, nobody's parent coming. My first answer was no, mostly because of the rain. My partner thinks we're being overcautious with a boy who will be in college in a year. I don't want to just say no and have him resent it all of class 12. If you have said yes to something like this, what made it a yes?

2 comments

  • jade_river_1151

    I teach, and for every school outing we take, a monsoon trail means a registered guide or we don't go. Not because the children can't walk, but because nobody in the group knows the path once it's slippery and misty. Could the boys go with one of the trekking groups that run Sunday batches? They still go with their friends, and there's one adult who has done the route before.

    • maple_trail_727

      That sounds like the sensible middle, though my son is 14 and I haven't had to negotiate it yet. My doubt is whether 17 year olds would accept a group. Mine already calls any organised activity 'babysitting'.

    • rose_veranda_3323

      Replying to @maple_trail_727

      they accept it if one of them books it. if a parent books it, it's babysitting. if he finds the group and shows you, it's his trek.

  • hazel_tiffin_9716

    which fort though. a well known one on a sunday with families everywhere is a different thing from a quiet trail after two days of heavy rain. i'd say yes to the first one a lot faster

    • cinnamon_lantern_7761

      That's the part that bothers me. It's one none of us parents had heard of. One boy's cousin did it last year and says it's 'easy'.

    • maple_trail_727

      Then I would keep the friends and the Sunday and change the fort. Offer the well-known one and see if he takes it. If he refuses only because of the route, that tells you something too.

    • amber_marigold_6068

      whatever you decide, a charged power bank and a fixed time to call. not negotiable in our house for anything after dark. my daughter's 13 and i can already see this argument coming for me in four years

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