Every so often, debates will start on Twitter about how much freedom should be afforded today's youth. Generally, I fall on the side of allowing freedom until a young person has show they can't handle that responsibility. It's a constant give and take based on their behavior and maturity. For example, most parents with teens require Life360 on their vehicles. I do not require that of my children. I would if they gave me a reason to not trust them, but thankfully, they have not. I make one exception. I no longer allow sleep overs.
Parents are anti sleepover, anti playing down the street out of eye sight, anti running errands on their own because they’re terrified of their kids becoming a victim to a predator. Solution? Unrestricted screentime on the internet where they’re “safe in their own room”…
— Alex Clark (@yoalexrapz) March 28, 2025
Sleepovers do not belong in this category. My kids can do all sorts of things, but sleepovers are a hard no. Nothing good ever happens at sleepovers. https://t.co/RT3CP128VG
— Emily Zanotti 🦝 (@emzanotti) March 29, 2025
Interesting that so many people are visibly upset that some parents don't allow others to have unfettered overnight access to their kids. My friend, who's parents were 'strong Catholics', showed me a stack of hard-core porn mags in their basement one night. I was 9. This was 40+…
— Jenny (@JennyDH12) March 29, 2025
You don’t know how others live behind closed doors. It’s not a risk worth taking. Do plenty of young people enjoy sleepovers with no harm done? Sure, of course. But there are horror stories too—too many—and why chance it?
It is really weird. Like, I’ll reserve the right to amend my blanket prohibition if I think it might be different in some way (or figure out a way that allows them to participate without spending the night), but, like…it was a huge opportunity for bullying and access to adult…
— Emily Zanotti 🦝 (@emzanotti) March 29, 2025
