How much freedom for a 13 year old ?

[AnyDream]

I really think it's a question of scale. If it's occasionally with a small group of known friends for short periods, that's quite different from roaming around by themselves or in a large pack for hours and hours day after day. It might also depend on what their friends are like and what sort of standards their families keep. I know that sounds judgy, and maybe it is, but 13 is pretty young still. The risk-taking part of the adolescent brain develops a lot sooner than the sensible part, and even if your kid is "sensible" there's a good chance at least a couple of the others are not. Maintaining a few parameters around the socializing reduces the potential for escalation of risky behaviour due to boredom. JMO but my DD is 14 and plenty of her friends are still socializing in semi-supervised ways, so other parents obviously feel the same too.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Age 11, I was out on my bike for 2-3 hours at a time. Some days (age 12+) I'd leave home at 11am, call my mum at 3pm and let her know I was staying the night with *insert approved female friend name here*. It wasn't always a known, approved friend. It wasn't always a female friend, for that matter. I would return home after lunch the following day. Or maybe the day after, after a second phone call.

When my child is about 11, I would be happy with him out on his bike with friends for a while. I would ask the route they plan to take, there are some good cycle tracks around us. I would be happy for them to come back to my house and chill in the garden/sitting room. Or for them to go to a friend's house and do the same... and I would call/text the parent to check that this was what was happening. (Just like my mother did for my little sister.)

A skate park that you feel there may be drug taking? No, I wouldn't allow that. Ever. But if it is just children being a bit silly and your child is responsible, why not? With rules and boundaries (eg mobile phone on at all times and answer when it rings, curfew, must leave if X and Y are leaving...) it can be a safe, fun environment.