Teens going to concert alone

[Anonymous]

Has anyone's teens gone to a concert alone at Verizon Center? They're 14 and 15 and I have no issue with them being at the concert alone but I'm just wondering how you handle pick up? There's no way that they'd be able to find a car outside waiting for them. Pick up with two parents and one gets out to go find them? Metro? Just wondering how you've handled it.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone's teens gone to a concert alone at Verizon Center? They're 14 and 15 and I have no issue with them being at the concert alone but I'm just wondering how you handle pick up? There's no way that they'd be able to find a car outside waiting for them. Pick up with two parents and one gets out to go find them? Metro? Just wondering how you've handled it.

Not at the Verizon Center, but at other venues, I've just parked the car and walked to the place and stood outside the door. There are normally a bunch of other parents doing the same thing and it's usually a pretty festive atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

Can they get on Metro and get off at a stop closer to home? Much easier to pick them up there.

[Anonymous]

Verizon Center is the one venue I would allow two teens that age to go without supervision. They should be able to get there and back on Metro.

[Anonymous]

Metro's the easiest thing. The entrance is right there at the corner of the arena (7th & F), so no reason for them to go wandering in the neighborhood afterward.

You could pick them up outside the venue as Jeff suggests, but getting to Verizon Center in a post-concert rush (navigating crowded streets, finding a place to park, walking there and back) is a PITA for you.

[Anonymous]

Curious, what's the show?

[Anonymous]

Tell them to meet you at a precise spot 2 blocks away. You can't idle directly in front of Vz Center anyway.

[Anonymous]

Jingle Ball

[Anonymous]

Go enjoy a nice dinner at Rosa or somewhere near by and then walk over and meet them.

[Anonymous]

I would never let my teens (14 and 17) go to a concert without parental supervision, even if it is just us a few rows back being inconspicuous. These events are often full of drugs, alcohol and sex. Ecstasy is one of the most common drugs in such events, and if you overdose on ecstasy your child could die from either extreme dehydration or over-consumption.

Sex is often just passed around. Some venues/events have official running tallies of couples caught, sometimes with visuals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never let my teens (14 and 17) go to a concert without parental supervision, even if it is just us a few rows back being inconspicuous. These events are often full of drugs, alcohol and sex. Ecstasy is one of the most common drugs in such events, and if you overdose on ecstasy your child could die from either extreme dehydration or over-consumption.

Sex is often just passed around. Some venues/events have official running tallies of couples caught, sometimes with visuals.

You have serious issues. I went to a concert at Verizon just two weeks ago, albeit I am a 49 year old woman - and it is well organized and secure. Please chill.

[Anonymous]

Ha, I hope you're joking. Are you going to go to college with your 17 year old next year and sit a few rows behind her in class.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious how sex can be "just passed around."

And if concerts are full of drugs, alcohol, and sex, I'm totally doing it wrong. Five shows this year and no one has come up to me and offered me random drugs or a quickie in the corner.

[Anonymous]

My kids were much younger 11 and 13 ... And it was a Capitals game, but I parked and went to see a movie. It is in the same building.

Since we go to Verizon often I would be comfortable with them finding their way to and from the Metro, if not I would just park and meet outside the a Chipotle.

[Anonymous]

Good lord. Just locked your kid in a bubble. I go to like 30 shows a year, including stuff like Jingle Ball. Sex is not being passed around.

As for Verizon, at shows I've been to, parents tend to meet kids in that little walkway by the Clyde's. Just set a meeting point and make sure they have their cells.