No. I think that a lot of things go through even the most rational teenager's mind when trying to decide whether or not to bail on a bad situation, and removing "will they think I'm lame?" from that equation by pushing the social baggage for the decision onto someone who doesn't have any friendships to risk is a no-brainer. Keeps the kid safe, lets them learn with minimal consequence, and now they get to have a conversation about it the next morning over pancakes instead of through prison bars.

A misdirection or lie is a very small price to pay. And honestly, it's not even lying. If my kid feels unsafe, I do insist they come home, and I don't have any problem finding and exaggerating a reason for them to do so while still saving face.

They're learning how to be smart adults, but they can't be smart adults if they die while they're dumb teenagers just because the "but what if..." in their mind keeps them from making the call.

Yeah, boys don't find themselves in uncomfortable or potentially dangerous situations.

Damn, I thought toxic masculinity and mysoginy stayed in X, not dragged along to Lemmy