What age is ok to go to the movies without an adult

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F_Marturana

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I remember going to see “The Outsiders” when I was 13. Three of my girlfriends and myself walked about 15 blocks to the theatre, swooned over the cuteness of Matt Dillon and Rob Lowe. Then we walked over to McDonalds to discuss the film, and the cuteness of Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze and Matt Dillon.

Is 13 still a good age providing it’s an appropriately rated film?
 
F_Marturana said:
Is 13 still a good age providing it’s an appropriately rated film?
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No one here can answer that.

This is completely up to you as a parent, prudentially. It depends greatly on where you live, the maturity of your individual child, the logistics involved, and other parents and their practices in your area.

When I was a kid, we were dropped off at the movie theater by ourselves when we were in 3rd grade, went to the movie, then got picked up afterwards. I don’t think that would be popular parenting now.

In my small town where I live, kids could certainly walk or bike to the movies at age 12+ by themselves without danger. In a large city, maybe/maybe not depending on the situation.

You need to examine the situation where you are and make your own decision. Also impacting that would be if other parents are going to let their children go with your child by themselves.
 
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Yeah, it’s too bad…but, it really varies, from town to town. My sister and I always went with friends…walked there almost weekly!
 
It worked out this way, I drove to the movie theater, made sure they got the tickets, and then left.

My youngest didn’t want to see a film. If he had, I would have gone with him and sat separately from the friend group.

There were a couple of classmates there as well.

We live in a suburban smaller town. The walk isn’t too long, but there’s a wooded area I’m not comfortable for her to cross through alone.

When I was young, I could walk or take a bus to most places. Public transportation isn’t very good in my area.
 
I think 12 or 13 is a fine age to go to the movies alone as long as the movie is appropriate, the kids go in a group, and they know some basic safety rules (like if someone starts perving on them, inform security) and agree to be where they are supposed to be.

We used to spend the whole day at the mall at that age. The one bad thing was that my other friends would sneak into R-rated movies that we weren’t allowed to watch, also they were sneaking in and not paying. My mom heard about this and forbid me to hang out with them. I was not very popular with my friends after that, but they turned out to be jerks anyway.
 
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I went to the movies with my siblings when I was much younger than that. I would certainly think that would be okay, particularly in this day of cell phones. Of course, if you have the kind of kid that can’t be trusted to do what they said they would do and be where they said they were going, then it’s probably not a good age.
 
The movie theaters around here sell $5 movie cards for Wednesdays during the summer. Kids get to see 5 different (albeit older) movies and get a popcorn each time they go. Lots of older elementary school kids are in there for those shows.
 
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