Yahillwe

BAAZ you live in Paris, so you'd know the area, just by Pont D'Alma. the incident happened there. Very lit and lots of people walking around at 1am on New years eve/day.

muscat

muscat Jnr (age 17) has been following this thread with interest and trying to decide on the best reply:
Immigration officer: Is anyone here to meet you?
Muscat jnr: No, my wife had to stay at home looking after the kids.

He's actually hoping he gets questioned next week

KenJohn

There must be loads of non-UK students aged 16/17 entering the UK just before the start of boarding school term who travel on their own. I know I did (although it was way way way back when). They arrive with their school paper work and visas and get cleared without question.

There are some immigration (possibly new ones) that try to be too clever. One friend show a passport with a "strange UK border stamp" and was almost accused of doing something illegal. He calmed explained that it was from the Southamption port immigration. Immigration agent when off to see their supervisor and came back saying that she had never seen that type of stamp before and her supervisor said it was fine. At least my friend was polite enough to end the conversation by saying "well you learnt something new today" rather than get annoyed by the immigration officers earlier acqusations.

I supposed it another example of damned if you do and damned if you dont.
It is not the immigration officer's role to lecture the minor. It is his parent decision to arrange for travel (as the child could not pay the ticket in the first place) and why should they take it out on the child. That is what is wrong here and why the actions of the immigration officer was incorrect.

matthandy

I realise that we are getting OT here but I wanted to share my thoughts. I recently went to a wedding where I was asked to be the photographer. I've been friends with the family for years and subsequently have known the kids since they were babies or toddlers. I've been endlessly praised by the parents, thanking me for the photos that I've taken of their kids whilst we've all been out and about at various places. However, at the wedding I avoided taking photos of the children, for one reason; some of the guests had never met me before and might think that I was some kind of weirdo for taking photos of the kids (nieces and nephews of the bride). I felt very conscious of the situation.

So the parents missed out on photos of their kids enjoying themselves at their aunt's wedding. I think it's really sad.

BA6501

Exactly the same way my son was brought up, both in London and Beirut.

BA6501

Indeed it is...
Sometimes I wonder what went wrong in this world - and am extremely happy to know that this "mentality" and "problem" hasn't (yet...) reached Lebanon, where you can still enjoy life as freely as you want...

wind-blownmind

About 10 years ago I took a photography course. One of the assignments called for use of a macro lens under natural light. So on a nice Saturday morning with absolutely nobody around, I headed for the schoolgrounds that I lived next to and set my tripod up beside some bushes. I was happily snapping away pictures of bugs and leaves in extreme closeup, when I find myself accosted by the police. Turns out there was a children's football game going on on the other side of the building, 500 yards away and completely out of sight from where I was working. Nevertheless, one of the parents decided "male + camera + not part of our usual parental clique = obvious paedophile!" and called 911.
The officer stopped short of arresting me after a call to my professor backed up my story, but he did insist on confiscating my film for processing at the police lab. Of course they found nothing but pictures of bugs and I got the negatives back remarkably quickly.
In the next class we had a full discussion of appropriate conduct with a camera around children, and the universal opinion was that whilst the panicking parent was way out of line, you pretty much have to expect this kind of irrational behaviour these days. The prof was sympathetic, but still deducted 50% from my mark on the assignment for failing to process the film myself.

pacer142

Yes. And for the good of the child's development, we have to. Control the risk, yes, but we have to allow a level of independence at the appropriate age. What that age is depends on a lot of factors, but the world can be a risky place, so children need to be exposed to that risk in a controlled fashion so they can learn how to deal with it.

The outcome otherwise is what I see in a lot of 18-20 year olds I meet today - less ability to look after themselves than 10 years ago, and reduced risk perception and understanding.

To put it differently, good parenting is in some ways about striking the balance in that risk. A parent who keeps their child under close supervision at all times until they turn 18 is as questionable a parent as one who just turfs their 5-year-old out of the door unsupervised every morning and assumes they'll be back in the evening. (note that I'm not saying you are either of these, I'm just making the point!)

Neil

pacer142

Might a more pragmatic approach not perhaps have been for the organisers to announce in some way that you were the official photographer, and perhaps to give guests details of where their photographs could be purchased or otherwise obtained if they wished to do so? Or perhaps for you to wear some kind of badge indicating you were indeed the official photographer?

Neil

BA5E

Never heard of it either, every year our daughter from the age of 12 - 16 travelled on her own to BOS and was never asked for any letter when returning to the UK.

Yahillwe

pacer142, it is very difficult to parent in this day and age. I think there is 2 points of views, a mother's and a father's.

But I really do understand your point and do appreciate it. One can't be over protective or under protective.

BAAZ

You're probably right, and I'm very sorry to hear about what happened to your (adult) daughter. But I suppose that's the point - she had to learn sooner or later that unless she barricaded herself in her home, something along those lines is going to happen sooner or later, so the issue is more about learning how to deal with it when it does happen, than being under the misapprehension that one can arrange one's life so that it never happens at all.

Having said that, I've been around the Champs-Elysées area on New Year's Eve/Day at a similar time, and it's not somewhere I'd like to be again soon.

Yahillwe

Who in their right mind go to the Champs on New Year, or in the evenings... but tourists. I was talking being on Avenue Rapp.

pacer142

And the great difficulty is in striking that balance, of course... (I think we agree there!)

Neil

BAAZ

I know (I was just driving back to a friend's house and ended up on the Champs) - I see what you mean, Avenue Rapp isn't exactly where you'd expect something like that to happen, but all bets are off on 31/12.