“Should I allow my 15 year old to go to Coachella next year?”

Hi, welcome to Tips on Teens. My name is Kent Toussaint, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
and leader of both Tips on Teen Therapy Center and the non -profit organization Child and Teen
Counseling. I come to you live every Wednesday at noon on your lunch break to answer your parenting
questions. And let's jump to today's question. My daughter's friends have all been talking
about how fun it was being at Coachella. I didn't let my daughter go this year and she's begging
me, telling me she absolutely has to go next year. Her favorite bands were all at Coachella and
all her friends were allowed to go. I am completely torn. Part of me wants to let her go and have
a good time, but the other part of me is really worried and scared for her if she were to go. It's
not the best environment for a 15 year old, in my opinion. As a parent, should I let her go? So,
I love this question. And I think the question back to you is, How much do you trust your teen to
take care of herself? How much you

trust her to make wise choices in the face of temptation and you may ask him what temptation is
there? So let's let's go back a little bit. What is Coachella for those of you who don't know?
I'm sure most of you do but Coachella is this huge Music festival spans over two weekends in Indio
Roughly a hundred and twenty five thousand people each weekend attend. It's massive Lots of
music, big stars, small up -and -comers. It's huge. There's also a big contingent of teenagers
who go every year. Unsupervised teenagers. So, what's the problem with that? Well, there's
a lot of weed, alcohol, psychedelics, other drug uses going there that can't be maintained.
It's gonna happen. It happens every year. Every...everything that's been going on has been
a big part of the You go there, you get high, you watch music, you have a great time. So, with that,
how much do you trust your teen to make wise choices in the face of that? Can he or she, or in this
case, she, make choices that are going to be safe?

For example, it's not only just whether she's going to smoke or drink, but it could also be, even
if she's not smoking a drink, is she able to take care of So, in the heat of the day, does she pass
out from exhaustion or dehydration, which happens? And if you're smoking weed, it's even more
likely. Now, it's not the end of the world if she's got good friends and a safety net around her,
but it could be a problem. So, it's important that we are aware of those possible dangers. But
on the flip side, you want your kid to say yes to life and have new experiences. So, how do we help
her have those experiences in a safe way? You know, again, And do you trust her to make these choices
and her friends to be safe? You may also say, well, I'm going to send an adult with her. One of the
parents is going, or an older cousin or whatnot. How much do you trust that adult to supervise
appropriately? Again, there's thousands upon thousands of teenagers who are not supervised
at Coachella. There's a lot

of families who just send their kids off, they're there for three days, and they come back, and
they've had no adult contact at all whatsoever. Again, it's up to you what you think is best for
your kid. Another thing to consider is, even though they've tried to address it this year, there
are many accounts of sexual harassment at Coachella. They're trying to curb that, but it's
something that happens, so it's important to be aware of that as well. And just think from yourself.
If you were 16 or 15 and you were to go to this huge music festival with your favorite bands and
your best friends and very little supervision, what would you do? You know, how much weed would
you have smoked? How much alcohol would you have smoked or drank? Don't smoke alcohol. It's
not good for you. Drinking alcohol, that's a different story. But so just be aware of what people
can do. Another thing is when people are there and they're feeling free and they're experimenting,
are they going to go make out with a

bunch of strangers? Maybe that's okay for your teenager. Maybe you're all right with that.
You know, how much do you trust your teenager to make wise choices? That's the big thing right
here. So maybe Maybe it's something if you are open to your teenager doing it next year, are you
laying the groundwork now to how she builds that trust and what are the boundaries? What are
you going to? How close, if you are, are you right next to them the entire time? Or do you say, hey,
I'll be in the back of this concert, you guys go up to the front, I'll see you in an hour after the
show's over. Or you guys go off and I'll meet you in two hours at lunch. It depends on what works
for you guys. So talk to your daughter. Make this a conversation. Don't come down this as if you
are a dictator just laying down the law make it a conversation Make sure she has a voice because
she has a voice Maybe you guys work something out that works for both sides, and I think that's
always the best chance to having Good

communication good connection So anyways, that's the top for today Coachella big topic if
you have questions you want answered Please email us at tips on teens at teen TherapyCenter
.com or just message us here right directly here at Facebook. We'd love to hear from you. And
if you have more questions, give us a call anytime and we will see you next week at 12 o 'clock.
Bye -bye.