There are many key dates in life’s calendar for today’s teenagers: GCSE and A-Level exams, driving tests, university visits, job interviews.Less conventionally perhaps – yet also seemingly key for growing numbers – is attending a post-results festival to celebrate.Of these the Reading and Leeds music festivals rank highest in popularity... and they’re both happening this weekend.These are the two biggies, running over the August Bank Holiday weekend, with heavier rock music than some festivals earlier in the summer. And they’ve even been labelled the ‘results festivals’ having become a cultural mecca for teens whose parents permit a ‘last hurrah’ after a summer of tense waiting for grades.Unlike other big music festivals in the UK such as Glastonbury, Latitude or Green Man – which have a distinctly more grown-up or family feel – the demographic attending Reading and Leeds is much younger. And attendees tend to be hellbent on having a good time (away from watchful grown-ups).The thing that distinguishes younger generations – Gen Z and now General A – from older generations at the equivalent age is they have had few opportunities for independence, with the majority having spent little or no time away from home. This has had a knock-on effect inculcating a naivety that can often lead to trouble.The result? Notorious post-results festivals. Reading’s ‘Safeguarding’ policy operates a strict ‘zero tolerance’ covering harassment and violence with clear sanctions including being evicted from the festival Leeds and Reading been labelled the ‘results festivals’ having become a cultural mecca for teens whose parents permit a ‘last hurrah’Cara, 20, was there at the 2022 Reading Festival when it deteriorated into a riot with tents getting burnt and bottles being thrown. Widespread violence led to more than 50 people being ejected.She was 16 at the time, celebrating her results and she describes it as having been a ‘tinderbox’.She recalls: ‘It was quite a febrile atmosphere even before it got out of control. Look, you’ve got thousands of kids there, many away from home for maybe the first time and most of them insanely drunk or high or both and no one intervening.‘I got felt up by so many lads who obviously were gaming groping girls and filming it, but the worst thing that happened to me was this older man bought me a drink and this other girl who was a bit older basically came and dragged me away, saying he was sketchy.‘I’m so grateful she did. Another one of her friends had accepted a drink the year before and had woken up in a tent with a strange man and no memory of what had happened.’Meanwhile, Layla, 19, has been going to Reading since she was 15. She agrees the festival has something of a Lord of the Flies quality. She explains that the 'mission' of Reading is to get as intoxicated as possible and it’s 'gotten more intense'.‘I’ve seen kids do so many insane things, sex acts in public, drinking, drugs and there are definitely predatory older people there who know there will be young girls and lads off their heads. And everything is getting filmed.'A friend of hers was filmed drunkenly performing a sex act with another teenager who she barely knew. 'It spread across Snapchat. She was obviously devastated, her family found out, and it was a mess.’Then you have Guillame, 18, who lives in Paris but goes to a boarding school in the UK. He is travelling back early from France specifically to join his friends for Reading.He freely admits the festival is less about the music and more about the party – specifically the drugs, drink and sex. He laughs about the difference between UK teens and those on the continent, something that becomes all too apparent at music festivals.‘I’ve been to Reading twice and it gets crazy and I think it’s because kids in the UK have so little independence. We get loads more in France, but everyone loses their mind at Reading. I’m OK because I keep myself together, but I definitely worry about the girls more. It’s like none of the normal rules apply for that weekend. I saw a girl crowd surfing for Travis Scott last year and her clothes were literally getting torn off.‘I saw a girl passed out and alone and people were feeling her up and filming it. That’s not cool. But I’m still going this year. It’s crazy but fun.’Some parents are stepping in. Dave, 49, is as he describes it ‘taking one for the team’ and escorting his 16-year-old twin daughters and some of their friends to Reading this year. Festivals can cast a spell making teenagers feel as though they are insulated from the normal rules of lifeHe has agreed to make himself scarce and camp a little bit away from them with one of his own mates and fellow dads with a daughter at the festival. The plan is that he will be a ‘presence’ should things go wrong for any of them – something his kids are not thrilled about, but that was his condition for them going.Dave explains his reasoning: ‘I’m a festival veteran. I went to my first festival alone, I think, when I was 13, including, Reading, even though I was a raver, really. But things are different for this generation.‘They are a combination of less resilient but also there is a nastier edge, which I think comes from the existence of phones. I have friends who work at these festivals and the stories are frightening; filmed assaults, overdoses, bad drugs, kids getting preyed on.‘I wouldn’t sleep anyway if my girls were here alone, so I might as well do it in a tent. The girls are even going to let me watch Charli XCX with them.’Reading’s ‘Safeguarding’ policy operates a strict ‘zero tolerance’ covering harassment and violence with clear sanctions including being evicted from the festival.Even so, stories from these ‘results festivals’ – both in Reading and Leeds – are too legion to be ignored.At Leeds Festival in 2022 tents were also set on fire – as they had been at Reading that year – and rocks and bottles thrown. Black plumes of smoke were reported at night, though fires were put out using fire extinguishers.One father of two teenage daughters at the festival had called him to say the atmosphere was ‘extremely frightening as people seemed to be going feral’.The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, the personal safety charity, advises young, inexperienced festival goers to camp in well-lit plots, make themselves familiar with security staff and to keep mobile phones charged (there are power points supplied at the festival).Further tips are to keep to well-lit areas, stick with friends as there is safety in numbers, and never abandon a friend, especially if they are under the influence. The Trust recommends avoiding alcohol and drugs – and never leaving drinks unattended.The trouble is, festivals can cast a spell making teenagers feel they are insulated from the normal rules of life. That said, it’s important young people should be able to have fun and be independent.Teenage festival goers are well advised to take care and know the risks.When Sunday night comes, it should all be about good memories... not regrets.