Kirstie Allsopp under fire over son’s solo Europe trip – but has stinging reply

TV personality Kirstie Allsopp has attracted criticism after revealing her 15 year old son’s interrailing trip across Europe this summer accompanied by his 16 year old friend, with some arguing the teenagers were too young for such an adventure.

In a social media post yesterday (Mon), the presenter famed for housing programmes like Channel 4‘s ‘Location, Location, Location’, shared: “My little boy has returned from 3 weeks inter-railing, he’ll be 16 on Wednesday so he went with a mate who’s already 16 due to hostel/travel restrictions.”

“They organised the whole thing; Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Marseille, Toulouse, Barcelona and Madrid. For obvious budget reasons inter-railing isn’t on the cards for everyone, but in this increasingly risk averse world it’s vital that we find any ways we can to give our children the confidence that only comes from trusting them.”

“Of course I missed spending the summer with our son, but I’m so proud of him and my loss is nothing compared to his gain and the encyclopaedic knowledge he now has of the differences between one McDonalds and another. If we’re afraid our children will also be afraid, if we let go, they will fly.”

Despite the evident pride expressed by the mother-of-two regarding her youngest sons self-reliant escapades, the online community reaction was mixeda few users branded the decision as “absolutely crazy”, questioning the wisdom of allowing two teens to traverse European cities unsupervised, reports Devon Live.

A woman criticised Kirstie’s decision to allow her 16 year old son to travel with a 15 year old companion, commenting: “That’s absolutely crazy to let a 16 year old responsible for a 15 years old! Too young for traveling on their own.”

Kirstie, renowned for her sharp wit and property expertise, clapped back at the critic, arguing: “Until 1972 you left school at 15, and the majority then started a job. The human brain has not altered so much since then, why have we stopped respecting young people’s abilities? “.

This wasn’t the only piece of scepticism that Kirstie had to fend off; several netizens questioned her judgement in allowing her son such freedom at a tender age.

To a comment suggesting her son was “That’s way too young for my liking.”

Kirstie retorted: “Well he’s returned safe and sound and having had a great time, different kids mature at different speeds.”

Another echoed a similar sentiment, posting: “Too young at 15,” which drew a candid response from Kirstie: “Patently not as he has returned safe and sound having had a wonderful time.”

When one commentator expressed inability to envision approving such independence for sons, especially daughters, at such ages due to realistic concerns rather than mere fear, Kirstie advised: “Everyone needs to understand data, to really know what the risks are and where those risks lie. All parents have to make their own decisions about when they believe they can trust their children to travel independently. I believe understanding data helps one make all sorts of decisions.”

A father of a teenage girl simply remarked: “I have a 17-year-old daughter. I’d be terrified.”

However, Kirstie reassured him: “Don’t be, the world is a safer place and fear doesn’t help our kids it just hinders them.”

Kirstie Allsopp, aged 52, is a mother to two teenage boys, 18 and 15 years old, and also plays the role of stepmother to her partner, Ben Andersen’s, two children from a previous relationship. She owns a property in Welcombe, Devon, which can be rented as a stunning holiday home accommodating up to 14 guests.