How young is too young to goto the movie theaters alone?

Sozlet went once without my knowledge -- that is, a friend's mom asked me if she could take her own kid and sozlet to a movie, I said sure, and then later I found out that she'd dropped them off at the movie, left, and then came back to pick them up later.

I was a bit surprised by that and wished she'd asked me first (it was all via email/ text so not a miscommunication thing, I went back and checked just to be sure), but no harm done so... <shrug>

That was maybe six months ago? (She's 11 now.)

Then just a bit ago a passel of her friends (like, about a dozen girls and then another set of about a dozen boys) went to see the Hunger Games together, but that doesn't really count because there were a couple of parents with the horde.

Whether I let her go on her own or not mostly depends on where and who she'll be with, I think.

Well, I unexpectedly get to learn a new word:

12
Saturday afternoon movies
Only with the permission of my parents.
Never went alone, always were with three or four buddies.

Took Janet Tomlinson to the movies when I was 14 and she was 15.
Joe(my head still swims when I think of her.)Nation

I think it depends on the child and the neighbourhood. If you know the neighbourhood and your child is relatively responsible, no problem. Better yet that he's with a friend or two. But to drop them off and pick them up, I don't see an issue with it at 11.

Saturday matinees at the local movie house in my neighborhood (The Madison on Center St., Bromley-Heath neighborhood of Jamaica Plain, Mass., a section of Boston, long, long gone now) no adult in his/her right mind would attend the usual double-feature performance. If they did, they would probably no longer be in their right minds when the show was over. We kids (I was about 11 at the time) didn't call it the Madison -- it was known far and wide as the Madhouse. Pre-teen mayhem ruled. Double-feature (frequently a Western paired with a Tarzan or similar adventure flick), three or four cartoons, a serial feature and endless reels of trailers. Sometimes one or two other shorts thrown in as well. All for a dime. Box of popcorn was a nickel. Many of the families in the neighborhood didn't have TVs yet and there wasn't much to see on a Saturday afteroon anyway if you did have a set. (I'm talking ca. 1950.) I went every blessed Saturday.

I think that I was six when I first went to the movies. (And later, I've always been 16 or 18 - whatever the age restriction of the film had been)

I think I was 7 or 8. There were 2 theatres in the neighbourhood within biking distance, one was closer but it across a busy street. Different time..

I remember walking to the theater and seeing movies when I was nine. I know that at 13 I was in charge of my younger siblings at movies.

This sucks.

I was 16 and ran away from home for the 5th time... Was never allowed to go anywhere on my own..

Love you parents anyway for trying to protect me.

Such a rebel I became ...and later, calmed down....

I know my step-daughter is dropped off and picked up with her friends, she is almost 14.
Repeat? At least she gets to go.

Ok, going off to watch a movie now cause I can.

That explains a lot, Merry.

Yeah, well, I hadda place the blame somewhere!

I hated that when other parents take liberties you'd never have done yourself. When Jane had a sleep over at a girlfriends house a few years back (she was 12 then), the girl's mother dropped them off at a big mall unsupervised. I was just livid.
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As for the movies, I think Jane was around 13 years old when I dropped her and her friends off at the movies. The theater was in a small shopping center, so I stayed around and did some shopping until the movie was over.

I was fairly young. Movies were affordable back then and when on 4th Street I'd often get permission to go over to the Sheridan on 7th Avenue. It came at a cost, my older brother had to take me those early years and he didn't usually want to. Then around age 8 it was decided I could go on my own. This decision came after my brother dropped me off for the movie and then went elsewhere with his friends. He got punished and in retaliation stole something from my sister and hid it in my closet at which point my mother's hands became wild and started on a slapping journey (we were a very loving and caring family). Mother was very equal opportunity minded and even hit my sister. (as I said, we were very loving and caring)

During the kiddie matinees they used to have a woman in there known as a matron. She wandered up and down the aisle, occasionally shining a flashlight beam on someone. She didn't need a reason, she just did this kind of thing. On times when it wasn't a kiddie matinee, she was nowhere to be found. Before Uncle Jake got ill with cancer he and his wife would treat me to a show and then over to the Village Star (much nicer than the Den) for a meal. The Village Star became a Duane Reade.

The theater got torn down and was replaced by a a waste-incinerator for the hospital. The hospital (St.Vincents) subsequently shut down.

Around age 10 or so, I was often staying in Rutland. There weren't too many movies taken in up there and they always involved 6 or 7 of us, we would be driven over in the back of Jerome's pickup truck. Jerome later died from complications of diabetes.