{"id":526951,"date":"2026-06-09T21:47:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T21:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/526951\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T21:47:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T21:47:15","slug":"leaving-cert-holiday-how-parents-can-prepare-teenagers-for-their-first-solo-getaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/526951\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaving Cert holiday: How parents can prepare teenagers for their first solo getaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEFORE letting her children \u2014 now aged between 18 and 26 \u2014 go on a post-Leaving Cert holiday, Parentline<\/a> CEO\u00a0and mum-of-five Aileen Hickie needed to see how they coped on short away-from-home trips without their parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cA short-distance trip with the school, with trusted family members or to a friend\u2019s holiday home was a pre-requisite before letting them off to Tenerife,\u201d says Hickie, recalling a scare she got the first time she let one of her children off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t get hold of her on her mobile for a few hours \u2014 she was genuinely out of coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Hickie, it emphasised how holiday-making teens need to be proactive about communication and to set a daily check-in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere should be a text each day: \u2018Hi, things are great, this is what we did today\u2019.\u201d Hickie says knowing the accompanying friends was essential.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AileenAileen Hickie: ‘A short-distance trip with the school, with trusted family members or to a friend\u2019s holiday home was a pre-requisite before letting them off to Tenerife.’ Photo: Alan Betson \/ The Irish Times<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of mine, at almost 18, took a big trip to Canada. She went with long-time friends we knew well \u2014 the last thing you want is your child falling out with friends in the first six hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

She always liked to have a connection with her child\u2019s friends\u2019 parents, as well as phone numbers of the friends. \u201cSo I could text and say, \u2018Is such-and-such OK? I presume you\u2019re all together?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Conversations around not bowing to peer pressure and being respectful of others were part of the preparatory groundwork, and Hickie always made sure her kids had emergency plans and phone numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere would have been a lot of guidelines in place. And I\u2019m not saying there weren\u2019t a few rows along the way when suggestions weren\u2019t followed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She acknowledges feeling nervous all the way. \u201cIt\u2019s such a big leap for parents \u2014 your child going to a different country with friends. The trust you\u2019re placing in them, in their friends, in the travel, in where they\u2019re going to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teens are younger now than before <\/p>\n

With Leaving Cert 2026 set to finish on June 23, many parents will be feeling hugely anxious about the post-exam holiday, something child and adolescent psychotherapist Colman Noctor<\/a> completely understands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s usually the first time the young person has gone on anything remotely as independent,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd teens are younger now than before \u2014 in the \u201890s 14-year-olds were babysitters, now 14-year-olds need babysitters.\u201d<\/p>\n

He sees the post-Leaving Cert holiday catapulting them into an independence they\u2019ve never had. \u201cThey\u2019ve probably been picked up from and dropped to school. They don\u2019t go on public transport or budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“So it\u2019s quite a leap from what they\u2019re used to. Alcohol, partying and late nights add another layer to parental anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the trajectory of development so varied between teens, Noctor sees age \u2014 the 18th birthday \u2014 as a very arbitrary basis on which to decide how your child will manage an independent week\u2019s holiday abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n What you\u2019re looking for is readiness \u2014their capacity to make sound decisions, to exercise foresight and reasonableness.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you leave them alone in the house while you go away for a night or two, how do they manage their diet? Do they have breakfast, a decent lunch, cook themselves something for dinner \u2014 or do they live on Oreos and orange juice \u2018til you get back? How can they self-manage? Does their Revolut always run dry as soon as you put money in?<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019d look for a degree of being road-tested.\u201d<\/p>\n

IACP<\/a>-accredited psychotherapist Katie Bird works primarily with adolescents and has a private practice in Navan. She says there is no legal teenage age at which a parent should not let their child go on holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more about readiness. Not \u2018how old are they?\u2019 but \u2018are they able to manage if something goes wrong?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Age, she says, is a \u201crough safety framework\u201d from which to begin, but it is much more about whether they can handle real-world responsibility. \u201cSome 17-year-olds can be less prepared than some 15-year-olds.\u201d<\/p>\n

For parents not yet at the post-Leaving Cert holiday stage, who might be facing it next year, Bird agrees that gradual exposure before building to an independent holiday is vital.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuild that ladder of independence. Start with school trips, sleepover in a relative\u2019s or weekend in a trusted family home.\u201d<\/p>\n

During this process and leading up to the longer overseas trip, she says parents should assess their child\u2019s maturity, judgement, emotional regulation and problem-solving ability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAre they able to take on practical responsibility \u2014 manage their money, track their belongings so they\u2019re not losing or misplacing things? How are they at managing transport and unfamiliar places?<\/p>\n

\u201cAre they able to get to places within a certain time, able to follow rules and come home on time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering their emotional maturity is also essential, she says. \u201cAre they able to make reasonable, thoughtful decisions under peer pressure? How do they handle conflict? Do they panic easily?\u201d<\/p>\n

She recommends parents pay attention to their child\u2019s communication ability. \u201cAre they reliable around replying when you reach out to them [on the phone]? Will they proactively let you know if a plan changes?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another element is their personal safety awareness. \u201cDo they have a basic understanding of their own personal safety? Do they choose their friends wisely? Are they aware of drugs, alcohol and online sharing,\u201d asks Bird.<\/p>\n

Communicate in an engaging way <\/p>\n

Child and adolescent psychotherapist Cathy O\u2019Donoghue<\/a> says her son had gone on overnight concerts and city breaks with friends before venturing abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would text when he got back [at night] to his hotel or friend\u2019s house. That was embedded in our communication. It built little nuggets of trust between us \u2014 I\u2019d know \u2018he\u2019s in now, he\u2019s fine\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donoghue recommends that parents have an open conversation ahead of time about how their child plans to take care of themselves while away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"CathyCathy O’Donoghue: ‘Sometimes they\u2019re more clued in than we give them credit for, but the teen brain is still under construction so they\u2019re not always able to do big picture thinking.’<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than lecturing them, communicate in an engaging way: \u2018This is a big adventure for you, I get that. Have you thought about this, or that, or what you\u2019d do if?\u2019\u201d Such a chat provides a chance to gauge their risk-awareness.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they\u2019re more clued in than we give them credit for, but the teen brain is still under construction so they\u2019re not always able to do big picture thinking. Sometimes they\u2019ll take risks. They mightn\u2019t, for example, think of phone-charging or money-management.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pointing to the complex world today\u2019s teens navigate \u2014 drugs, behaviour being captured on phones \u2014 she urges parents in pre-holiday chats to cover how their child plans to mind themselves and manage different situations that could arise.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo they have each other\u2019s backs as friends? Do they know how vulnerable young people can be with too much to drink? Will they look out for each other so no one\u2019s walking home alone?\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donoghue says a big consideration is your teen\u2019s ability to communicate and advocate for themselves. \u201cSome would find it difficult to approach someone or make a phone call to ask for assistance if they ran into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bird agrees that preparation should be coaching, rather than interrogation. \u201cFor example, coach around how to leave an unsafe situation \u2014 who looks like a person you could go to? An information desk, police officer, shopkeeper?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd teens should feel able to call home without fear of punishment if something goes wrong \u2014 that\u2019s key.\u201d<\/p>\n

There will be benefits \u2014 and lessons learned on this first independent trip. O\u2019Donoghue recalls big lessons in money management when she went to Majorca at 18 with a gang of girls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, says Colman Noctor, there\u2019s no foolproof way of sending them off with a guarantee that nothing will go wrong, or that they\u2019ll enjoy themselves. \u201cThere are far too many variables you can\u2019t control.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEFORE letting her children \u2014 now aged between 18 and 26 \u2014 go on a post-Leaving Cert holiday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[20157,73412,18,117,19,17,14330,2973,4752],"class_list":["post-526951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-parenting-school-children","tag-parenting-teens","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-leaving-cert","tag-parenting","tag-parenting-advice"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116722352781224533","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}