How much freedom did you have when you were 13?

Um, I think you mean allowed.

Yes, I was allowed to spend the night with friends.

I could go places with a group of friends.

But my parents always had to know where I was going and what time I would be home.

Too much. At least I think so, now. Then it was awesome. I had very neglectful parents. 13 was a big year for me.

I had essentially no freedom.
The furthest I was allowed to go was to the ranch. even then, that’s still home/work.

No sleepovers but I did get to have friends over once for my birthday.
And curfew for when I could play outside with my neighbors was dinnertime. Roughly around 6pm.

Edit: I had to be home right after school. I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere with friends. The people I hung out with the most were the ones who went to Young Marines (essentially a junior boot camp run by Marines).

I used to ride my bike all over. I would go three blocks to the corner store and buy candy. and four blocks away was a arcade. I used to hang out at. I spend the night at friends house. You had so much more freedom then you do nowadays. Parents have to be more careful because of pedaphiles and such. Sad.I had a curfew home before dinner.

Yes, I was allowed to go to sleepovers, although only to the homes of friends who my parents knew. (They didn’t have to know the parents, just the kids,)

I’m not sure exactly what you mean by “how far were you allowed to go”? On my bike? In the neighborhood? Out with friends? I doubt that I would have been allowed to go on a vacation with a friend’s family, but that was over 30 years ago, so who knows! My parents had to know where I was, but I wasn’t especially restricted. I grew up in a small town and it was pretty safe. I would walk downtown (all of a ½ mile!) and meet my friend for pizza and a movie, then walk home. I didn’t really have a curfew, I was just expected to come home whenever whatever activity was done.

And I wasn’t dating at 13, so that wasn’t an issue. In my humble opinion, that would be a little young for one-on-one dates.

Lots of freedom. I would ride my bike all over, sometimes miles from home (I lived in rural England, middle of nowhere, and it was all empty country lanes). I also would spend many hours on a farm, sometimes working, sometimes with the horses, sometimes just messing about. My rule was I had to be home before it got dark, and that was it, really.

When I got a little older (maybe 14 or 15) I was allowed to go alone on the train to Nottingham, which was about 45 miles away.

No sleepovers. I didn’t really have any friends. When I was out I was always alone.

(To put it in perspective, I was 13 in 1979).

As long as my mother knew where I was, she didn’t mind. Okay, sometimes she worried a bit, but she raised me well enough to stay out of the sorts of trouble kids get into nowadays. I would play outside until well after dark as young as 8, would ride hither and yon for hours, and generally had free reign.

Of course, it may have helped that the 1980s were a less crazy time, especially in a small town (population 24,000). Hell, most of the kids used to walk across town unchaperoned to school 3 miles away when we were in the 2nd grade; something many would consider unsafe today.

For me, it was all about who I was with. My parents had to meet all of my friends, and sometimes their parents too. If my parents approved of a friend, they were a little more lax in terms of rules and boundaries. I could sleepover at those friend’s houses, ride my bike around town with them, stay out a little later with them, etc.

But when it came to friends my parents didn’t like, well, they were pretty strict. No sleepovers, no running around town, no inviting them over to our house, etc. And, I had a very strict 9:00 pm curfew (which it was in my best interest not to break).

ah 13! That was 8th grade for me.
1) I couldn’t ride my bike off my street
2) I was only allowed to visit my friends if their parent/s were at home
and I could only sleep over if those friends were of the same sex (girls)
3) No boys in my room unless the door was open
4) Curfew was before the sun went down
5) Also, if I didn’t keep my room clean and my hw wasn’t done, then I couldn’t do any of those things.

I had friends who has even harsher rules. My parents weren’t that bad, imo. I think a lot of kids now a days have less rules. I think they’re also a lot less aware of that, which is why they still complain.

My guardian was extremely strict. No sleepovers, either at home or elsewhere. No friends allowed in the house. Had to be home by 4:30 on school days and Saturdays. Sunday was church, and no hanging out after. No phone calls after 7pm. No pop music, ergo, no concerts. And NO TALKING TO BOYS!

At 14, I was allowed to go to one weekend sleepover with friends, and I took advantage of it to see Hall and Oates one night and R.E.M. the next.

Not much – I lied like it was my job and got to do all I wanted anyway.

Boy, @Simone_De_Beauvoir, I wish I had had it in me to do that at 13! More power to you!

@aprilsimnel Well, I didn’t get authority much then – nor do I get it now, either…I couldn’t get on board with the whole ‘your brother can do this because he’s a boy and you can’t and never will because you’re a girl’ – thankfully, my older brother taught me a lot of tricks.

I had a perfectly good amount of freedom. I could have sleepovers and friends over. My friends and I were pretty innocent at that age, there were was no alcohol, no drugs, no sex. Most of the time we just rode bikes and hung out. I still had to have my mom drive me everywhere and definitely was not allowed out at night unless it was a sleepover. Didn’t have an official curfew, but since my parents had to pick me up most of the time, it was whatever they wanted and it definitely was not very late.

I had my own computer with internet access, watched TV when I wanted as long as my homework was done (was never a big TV-watcher to begin with), got my first cell phone at that age, etc. It was fun. :) I was completely pre-pubescent at the time, so that might’ve added to my blissful time. :P

Curfew? At 13? Probably 8–9pm.
At 13, my ass was at home. I was allowed to “sleep over” on weekends, but I didn’t like to do it often.
People are really treating children like small adults these days. No wonder they’re all just like “Jessi Slaughter”.
I didn’t even get a phone until I was 16/17 (which was old from where I’m from).
Not to mention I got in trouble for saying “butt” when I was 13.

I’m 13 right now. :)

I have freedom. I don’t really have many sleepovers, but I guess I could if I wanted to. I don’t know what my curfew is. I usually go to bed at 10 and I’m never out that late anyway.

For things like a cell phone and stuff, I have a cell phone, everyone my age does. I also have a computer. I’m not like a bad kid or anything, I do well in school and I really never get into trouble, so don’t worry. :)

I was allowed to do pretty much whatever I wanted. I did have a curfew though, I think it was 9:30pm. I got away with a LOT of crap when I was that age.

13 was a year after my father died, and my mother basically checked out for a few years,so I pretty much got to do anything when I was that age. And I did. I was damn lucky something didn’t happen, so it really was too much freedom.

For heavens sake, the word is allowed. I had freedom to be anywhere in the neighborhood. I spend the night with girlfriends way before the age of 13, so did my girls. At 13 I didn’t have a curfew because I was never away from home at night when I was not with an adult. After I was older my curfew was 11 PM.

When I was 13, I pretty much did whatever I wanted to do. Both of my parents worked full-time and left me and my younger brother (he would have been 9 then) home alone. I guess I was supposed to be watching him and taking care of him, but all I did was ignore him, beat him up, or leave with my friends.

I did a lot of things I wasn’t supposed to do, but nothing really bad like drinking or drugs or running around with boys. I’d have my two best friends over to watch TV, swim in the pond, or just hang out. One of my friends was the first person we knew to get MTV, so we’d go to her house to hang out. We’d ride our bikes all around (very rural area), but weren’t supposed to cross the highway or go into town. We did both. We even knew where my dad hid the keys to the ATV, and we’d ride it all around our property like maniacs. Even my little brother would ride that thing when our parents were gone.

I was allowed to have sleepovers any weekend I wanted, at my house or at a friend’s house. We were allowed to walk around the mall without an adult, although one of our moms was always somewhere in the mall too. I never had a curfew of any kind, but when I was that young it was generally expected I would be home by dark in the summer and by dinner during the school year.

Before we moved out to the country, we lived in a suburban area and well before I was 13 I was allowed to walk alone or with friends to a shopping center a few blocks away. I’d buy books at the bookstore or candy at the drug store. I’d go to the neighborhood pool, friends’ houses, and have sleepovers probably starting around age 10. I turned 13 in 1987 and grew up in the midwest.

I can go out with friends, but I have to be at home at around 22:00

I can walk around the whole city even if I’m alone

my mom knows I smoke and she’s ok with it

I can stay up as late as I want

I travelled to another city by plane, alone

I think I have a lot of freedom, but it will never be enough for me

Curfew 10:00 pm , no staying in other peoples houses unless they were relatives, no parties, no concerts because: ” It is dangerous ” , I could hang out only with certain kind of people, no boyfriends, I obeyed everything ( I didn’t have the balls to do things behind my parents back )so when I was 17 I moved thousands of miles away… with my parents consent of course, I am free now :)

Less freedom than my two younger brothers when they were 13.