If your teenage daughter were to sleep in the backyard t cabin at night how would you feel as a parent?

If your teenage daughter were to sleep in your backyard garden shed/treehouse would you come by and make sure the door was closed and lights were out?

A teenage girl I know wants to sleep in her parents garden shed/garage on some weekends? Her mother wants to make sure the door is closed and lights are out for her safety. The garage/garden shed is a seperate building from the house. The girl enjoys this place as indendance. Even though her parents worry about her for her safety she doesn't like the idea that her mother comes by at night to close the door to the outside and turn out the lights. Even though her mother locks the building door the girl can still open and unlock the door.

This girl is only 15 years old. Should she still continue to enjoy this garage/garden shed or give up?

The girls garden shed door only opens to the outside. In order for her to get to the main house she has to open the door and walk outside through the backyard.

This girl enjoys this little place

If your teenage daughter were to sleep in the backyard t cabin at night how would you feel as a parent?
If the girl continues this, her parents could be in really big trouble with family services.
Reply:I would say go for it and then give her Beer!

and a bunch of dudes.

*wink*

PARTY!
Reply:Wow, what an odd question! I would say, she is 15 so she is old enough to look after herself almost and if the cabin is in the garden of her home then why not. Her mother can keep an eye on her from the house. As long as there are no boys going in there and nobody can get to her from the street then she should be fine. As long as she understands fire hazards and is careful then I think its a good idea for her to have this little safe place for her to hang out with her friends. As a youth worker I understand the need for young people to have their own space. I would much rather my teenager be sleeping in a treehouse in our garden than sleeping in some boys house, drinking/smoking/ having sex.... When they are out of sight they think they are out of mind and if they are out of sight they can get away with too much. Definitely better for her (and her parents) to be sleeping in a treehouse, next to her house. I would suggest she keeps a key to the house with her, incase she needs to get in during the night. Hope this helps.
Reply:I wouldn't worry about her too much, she's a big girl.
Reply:I would leave the door open...She's old enough, you should trust her.
Reply:Boy, your details sound pretty descriptive for being a friend...it sounds like you are the one who wants to sleep in there ;)



Anyway, I have mixed feeling on this. I wouldn't be so much worried about my daughter sneaking out as I would some unknown person sneaking in (rapist, kidnapper, etc...).



I know kids will be kids. She may very well "invite" some young man over for a rendezvous or score a six pack and a few smokes and invite her best friend over. As long as it is in the relative safety of my property, I'd be OK with that (not that I would condone such behavior).



What I would do though is probably put a few upgrades into the shed. I would see if I could equip the door with a dead bolt. It sounds like the windows in the shed are either wide open or closed, so I would probably opt to have at least one glass window put in. It would be nice (and not very hard) to run some electric to the shed. If my kid wanted then, she could keep e everything locked yet still have some light and a fan to keep cool (she could spring for a window AC unit if she wanted).



What I would also do is place some proximity sensors in the area. Like I said, not so much for keeping my daughter in as keeping people out. It doesn't have to be James Bond high tech. Even a few motion sensing flood lights would be OK. Maybe put a doorbell button wired to a door bell in the parents bedroom as kind of an emergency alarm "just in case". If floods lights would be "disrespectful" to the neighbors, then motion sensors or lazer beam sensors by the entry points of the shed would work well if wired to an alarm in the house.



It may sound paranoid, but as a parent, you have to understand our kids are the world to us. Everything we do is for our children. I would rather be slightly paranoid than have to live with the fact some pedophile snatched and raped my kid in the middle of the night.