When you were in high school, did your parents let you stay out all night long (meaning at least until the sun came up)?

Yeah, but the latest I came back home was 2 AM and that was because of subway problems.

I had no real supervision as a kid. I set my own weekend schedule, fed myself and partied my ass off for most of the year. I saw so many sunrises it got to be normal.

The Senior prom was the only time I was allowed to stay up all night and that was too long, I haven’t done it since and now I’m a senior citizen.

Pffft, hell no!

No way! My dad was really strict about me being home at set times (usually 10.30) and heaven help me if I was even a minute late. It is amazing what shenanigans you must be able get up to in that one additional minute! I could stay at a friend’s house but he wanted to know who, where and what we would be doing and when I would be home.

Absolutely NOT.

Oh, hell no.

Yes, after about a year of having both a car and a curfew. We talked about it and they said they trusted me.

They told me what they were worried about me doing and told me I could call them at any time if I needed help. I think it was a great way to say they were still there, but I needed to start making my own decisions.

During my junior and senior years had to be home in time to let my dad have the car for work. Mostly, I was gone because I was able to stay at my girlfriend’s house. But part of it was growing up in New Orleans where late nights out seemed to be the norm.

My mother was sick and my father was nearly overwhelmed with work, paying a mortgage, raising two kids and caring for a dying wife. I had very little supervision but instinctively knew I should not misbehave. It would have been so easy. But my brother and I did everything we could to be good kids so my parents didn’t have to worry. They already had more than their fair share of grief. I NEVER stayed out late. It was my choice.

I didn’t have a curfew, but I wouldn’t say it would have been encouraged. I would wonder if there is a gender difference here. I know my parents worry more because I’m female.

Absolutely not – half the time I was grounded and couldn’t go anywhere! And when I did, it was “home by ten” or my parents were calling all my friends’ parents to see if I was there. If I was, I was in trouble. If I wasn’t, I was in even bigger trouble.

Back then, parents knew who their kids’ friends were. I once snuck out my bedroom window (I was 16) to go to my best friend’s party (even though I was grounded). After climbing out the window, climbing down to the first floor and running all the way to my friend’s house, imagine my surprise when my mother was pulling into her driveway at the exact same time. And so followed a very verbal dressing down and massive embarassment in front of my friends.

Not really. She would let me stay overnight at a friend’s house, and then I would do what I wanted. She would speak to the parents of the house I was staying, and confirm they were legit, lol. It was always embarrassing to show up at a friend’s place, then go ask their parents to call my mother, or ask them to speak to my mother on the phone.

OMG, @Blackberry I remember those days! How humiliating to show up and have to ask your friend’s Mom to call your Mom to confirm you were there. Awful times…..yet kinda cool, now that I think about it. Maybe that’s what missing these days?

No quite. My dad allowed me to stay out considerably late, but I was responsible enough so that he wouldn’t change his mind about that. His bigger rule was knowing where I was, or at least have a good idea of where. So I’d always tell him where I was going, or with who I was if I was with someone, or where I might be or with who I might be if I wasn’t sure. We didn’t have many problems with this. He didn’t want me to go too far off though, unless it was some sleepover at a friend’s.
When I got a bit older there weren’t any rules about that anymore, but he did make it clear that this would change if I started fucking around. Sometimes I came home really late or in the morning, usually weekends, so he let that pass. He said if I was too tired for school the next day that it was my own problem, and he’d still make me go haha.I didn’t want my dad to take away my privileges about this, so I usually respected it more than enough.
I lived in group homes too though, and they had strict rules and curfews. Was kind of annoying having to be in by nine thirty at 17 years old when two years before that I could hang out with friends until like one am. I fixed this by regularly running off and staying outside for days though haha Go figure that’s when I started skipping school and eventually dropping out, when while living with my dad, and given all the opportunities to skip and fuck up, I didn’t.

Not during the school year. I could stay up all night during the summer, if I was home.
I was the same way with my kids.

No, but they didn’t really let me out, period.

‘81 high school graduate here. Gracious no! The rule was to be home by curfew or be grounded. Plus, we had to go into their bedroom and let them know that we were home safely. After college, I briefly moved in back home. The parents said that their house rules still applied, and that included an 11pm curfew. I didn’t stay there long. :)

Edit: Now that I think about it, I also had to kiss Mom good-night when I got home. That’s probably one of the reasons I didn’t take up smoking like some of my best friends did.

Nope. My curfew was about 10 or 11PM, but I’d usually be in by choice by 8 or 9PM. I was kinda boring.

I had a few wild weekends where I slept at a friends and drinking was involved, but those were rare.

I’m college I stayed up all hours and pulled many an all-nighter… to get projects done and meet deadlines.

Yup. Boring.

Hell no….ha. but seriously. Hell no.

Kinda’ sorta’. My group of friends often said we were spending the night at one another’s houses, and just stayed out all night. Also, I didn’t really have a curfew, but my mother was a night owl and would stay up til she knew I was home. After she went to sleep, I’d often go back out. Mostly, she slept like a rock and had no clue. She caught me once, and the only thing she was upset about was that she hadn’t known I was out. She just wanted to know, so after that, I told her or left her a note. My situation was not the norm, by any stretch. Most high school kids I knew were sneaking out if they were out that late, and most of them didn’t do that, either.

I didn’t really start staying out much until I was 17 or 18. Even then, it was pretty rare. But my parents didn’t make a fuss. They’d already left me home alone (with a car) for weeks at a time. I had a job. They needed to work elsewhere. Actually, I was taking care of my sister.

The only times I remember staying out all night were New Year’s Eve, when we went to all-night contradance parties. I think there may have been other parties at people’s houses that lasted very late. But it was never an issue that I can recall. My parents trusted me not to get into trouble, and they were right. I plan to do the same with my daughter, although I am beginning to fear she will not have a social life until she is 35. She’s 16 and never been on a date. She still has sleepovers with friends. At our house.

Not even close. I think the ages of High School kids in the US may be slightly older than the equivalent (Secondary/Senior/Comprehensive school) over here. In the UK, Secondary school takes children from 12 years to 16 years, any education after that is not compulsary. I was not allowed to stay out all night until I was 18 years old (not that I ever really did).

No, but this was mainly because I lived in a very rural area where the only transport available to me was my dad’s car, and him as the driver. I had to be home before whatever time he wanted to go to bed because he would have to drive out to collect me from wherever I was, otherwise I’d have a very long walk in the pitch-dark middle of nowhere.