Kirstie Allsopp hits out at 'absurd' report to social services after son's trip across Europe
The TV presenter said the fallout from the revelation that her youngest son, 15, had gone interrailing across Europe shows there is a problem with "fear, xenophobia and restriction of the rights of teenagers".
Tuesday 27 August 2024 13:45, UK
Kirstie Allsopp has hit out at the "absurd" reports made to social services about her 15-year-old son's interrailing trip across Europe.
The TV presenter has come under significant criticism after she revealed her son went travelling to several European cities with a 16-year-old friend this summer.
After he returned, she was contacted by a social worker who informed her that a file had been opened because child protection concerns had been raised.
She later issued a defence saying he was almost 16 years old and argued children should have more independence.
In her latest posts on X, she said the report to child services "made me very angry".
"If anything it's a distillation of where we have got to, but... the main issue is that so many people seem to think the world is a more dangerous place to travel in, yet modern communications, safer transport and better emergency health mean it's a safer place to travel in," she said.
"Oscar's birthday is in late August, so he is summer-born. This means he was always going to be 15 not 16 when doing post-GCSE activities.
"The obsession with this age boundary is bizarre."
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Tap hereThe Location, Location, Location presenter also said there is "a far greater problem with fear, xenophobia and restriction of the rights of teenagers to explore the world than I could ever have imagined".
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She added her youngest son is "proud of his trip" and "seeing him return so happy and confident was a joy".
"I hope the silver lining of all this fuss is that a debate has begun about how we best help teenagers become confident, capable adults, and how factually and realistically we perceive risk," she said.