I think choosing the right camp site would be important. Many are family orientated and do not allow single sex groups or late night drinking parties etc.
Many have campers who go back time after time.
Sadly much abuse comes from family members and friendly neighbours.
People have to keep everything in prospective. It's no more dangerous now than it was say upto 40 yrs ago. The difference is media coverage. Boys are in just as much danger than girls.
If anything bad is going to happen, it will be someone close to family or even God forbid family.
------------- New Year: Hesketh Bank
Feb/March: Red Squirrel
March: lakes
June: Morecambe
Aug: Lake District(not camping camping)
October: Red Squirrel
Youngsters are encouraged to camp in their own tents with the C&CC rallies. They have a special area where they all set up camp together away from parents but supervised by youth leaders. Age range is 12-17 but I have seen younger children in their own tents on their parents pitches.
My 14 year old is going to try it this year but she will be sharing a tent with her friend. I think the 3 person Quechua pop up tent will do the job, it has good reviews on here.
In my humble opinion...let the teens have their own space IF it can be done safely. By that I mean tucked away in the middle of a family tent group.I had a difference of opinion about this..with a c and c club warden (again ) who insisted on the 6mt apart rule meaning booking 2 pitches and paying 2 site fees.I am sure you will agree that most teenagers are grumpy,smelly things that need to be kept at arms length but I would prefer my family teens just a little closer than 6mt. Campsite horror stories are few and far between and shouldnt be putting you off.Some sort of portable alarm in the tent would give added peace of mind...one of those aerosol can horns perhaps?
As a single lady camper I feel safer in a campsite because one scream and you'd have half a dozen people running. On my own, in my house and if I forget to lock the door - well there's nobody to hear the screaming!
I would say it depends on how sensible your daughter is. my 15 year old daugher is streets ahead of her 17 year old brother.
I would prefer a separate pod in the same tent.
Last year my son stayed with his dad and my daughter and I went, and although we had the same pod, we put the dividing curtain down. On one night, despite all the right equipment it was really cold and she joined me in my sleeping bag.
i do agree that media coverage has changed people's perpective of stranger danger. years ago we hardly heard of kids being approached, despite the fact it happened.
One of my friends was approached and went to walk off with a man, but fortunately she was spotted by a lovely couple who lived a couple of doors away and they didn't like what they saw and was able to stop what could have been a tragedy.
Didn't make the papers - possible a talk in school, if that, about stranger danger.
Now if a child is approach warnings are put out on scoial media, abd even is you do not lice anywhere enar the incident, it is possible that you will find out via FAcebook or similar
I would definitely let your daughter have her own tent, in a couple of years she'll want to be going on holiday with her friends, so you need to be ensuring she is sensible and encourage her independence so she'll be prepared for life. I went on a camping holiday with a friend straight after A Levels- he aunt and uncle and cousins were camping on the same site but separately so we knew we had people keeping an eye out for us. Don't let scare stories put you off-you can't out children in cotton wool they have to live in the real world and as others have said children are more at risk from family and friends, and in their home towns, than anywhere. Campsites are generally a safe environment.
My parents were probably worried about me as a teenager and I did kick against authority to some extent but I think looking back they did get the balance more or less right
Our first camping trip (as our main holiday) was in a Outwell Montana 6, our two teens were in with us. Whilst driving home my husband and I decided that were we to go again then the teens would be in their own tents on their own pitch.
I book early and insist on booking two large pitches next to each other, even requesting my pitch numbers ahead of time so I can see on the online plan that we are indeed next to each other. If we turn up and we're not 100% happy about safety then having large pitches means one of the tents can go on our pitch with us.
My dd has her own four man tent and my ds has a three man tent, they both have double airbeds. They have their own electric in each tent.
Have done this for the last four years in numerous French campsites and have never had any problems or concerns about safety.
I know this is an old thread, and OP's daughter is likely in college by now, so I'm writing this for others may find this thread wondering about the same thing.
I'm a woman, and I got my first tent, a four season two person backpacking tent, when I was 11. I can't imagine sharing a tent with my parents and brothers while I was going through puberty. Having my own space when camping made camping with my family a lot more pleasant as a teen.
As a young adult I'd often go on group trips with other young adults, and many of the other girls didn't bring their own tent, and ended up sleeping in a usually male, friend's larger tent. Eww. If I didn't want to share a tent with my family why would I want to share one with a group of acquaintances? I had my own. It was small, but high quality, and stayed much drier than everyone else's Walmart tents anyway. Of course mine was too small to share with anyone, even if other people's tents got messed up in a storm.
I got so used to having my own tent, that next time I shared a tent with anyone I was married to them, and we had to buy a bigger tent.
My point is teen girls need their own space while camping. In the long run teaching teen girls to establish their own space on camping trips is will solve more problems than it causes.
The best tents aren't pink and pink tents aren't often very good.
Involve your daughter in the tent purchasing process, let her see good and poor quality tents, tents that are waterproof and tents that are shower proof, tents that will blow down in a breeze and tents that will stand up in a storm.
Once she accepts that she needs a tent that is waterproof and will stay up in a storm let her make the final choice.
Then give her a budget for pink fairy lights and other decoration.
She'll end up with a good tent and remain (become) your ever loving daughter!
This reminds me of taking my Girl Guide camp leader badge at age 14 or 15. Albeit with discreet adult supervision from afar, it was my job to organise the whole weekend for a group of 6 of us in one tent in monsoon Singapore. Food buying, cooking, washing up, activities, putting up the canvas tent etc. We made bamboo frames so our kit was off the ground, handy when the flood water came over the football pitch where we were. Second night in the sports pavilion, obviously. But what fun we had!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Tent for teenage girl? ?
) who insisted on the 6mt apart rule meaning booking 2 pitches and paying 2 site fees.I am sure you will agree that most teenagers are grumpy,smelly things that need to be kept at arms length
but I would prefer my family teens just a little closer than 6mt. Campsite horror stories are few and far between and shouldnt be putting you off.Some sort of portable alarm in the tent would give added peace of mind...one of those aerosol can horns perhaps?
via mobile 09/9/2023 at 7:52pm
