[WillowTheWhisp]

I don't deny that my girls have enjoyed Edge Camp and neither of them have brought back any complaints about anything. I also realise that it's in the summer and there are not likely to be any chances of a girl being asked to wait somewhere in the dark on her own.

It is being asked to do that which gave me cause for concern - and the fact that the person who was giving her a lift didn't see anything wrong with asking a child to wait alone in the dark on a street corner down the road and out of sight of home did make me wonder if anyone else would have qualms about letting their 12 year old daughter do this. Which is why I posted this thread - and by the responses on here I can see that I'm not alone. Would you be happy for a 12 year old daughter of yours to stand at the top of Chester Street in the dark waiting for a mini bus alone? I'm puzzled that you "can't decide what my problem is" - it is exactly what I said - surely anyone concerned for the safety of a 12 year old girl wouldn't ask her to stand alone in the dark out of sight of home?

She wasn't too fussed about going to the Youth Club and decided off her own bat not to go. I couldn't tell them that last night because she'd gone to bed by the time they phoned to ask. Unfortunately although she did tell someone before she got home tonight the message must not have filtered through because they called at the house for her. (Which they had said they would do "just this once" on the phone to me last night.) Now as I've said if she has ever wanted to go and Busman been here then he has happily taken her. When both girls go to our own church Youth Group and get a lift from one of the adults who runs it then the person calls here at the house for them and drops them back off here at the house. If we have ever taken a child/teenager anywhere (either Busman or my late husband) they would be collected from their own home, taken back to their own home and watched as they went in to make sure they got in safely. That just seems natural to me. I would never dream of asking a child to wait on a dark street corner.

As I said earlier I have been to the Hope Centre to one of the reunion meetings and although it was a bit boisterous compared to what I'm used to I had no qualms about letting either or both of the girls go to the Youth Club there. I couldn't see any problems with the car park or the people or the toilets or any of the other things mentioned previously. If I had then I wouldn't have let them go.

Yes of course they could get a taxi if they wanted to go and Busman couldn't take them. That has never cropped up though because someone from the Hope Centre said there was no need because they would be collected in this mini bus if required. Mimi had other plans for this evening though as she went to a youth dance in Huddersfield with a bunch of youngsters from our church, in a minibus driven by a parent and delivered right back to the door and watched to see that she got in safely. Emz couldn't go as she is too young for those dances.

If you think I'm at fault for being concerned about my child's safety then I'm afraid we'll have to differ on that subject.