Sleepovers conjure up some of my fondest childhood memories. They were such a perfect way to spend time with my friends. While we maybe stayed up a bit later than usual, we played fun games, watched a good movie before going to sleep. It was an ideal night of fun and bonding, right?

Well, maybe not. The more I remember my own experiences, the logistics of sleepovers and read horror stories in the news, the more I'm thinking that maybe sleepovers weren't the childhood memory I originally thought and probably aren't in the cards for my own children.

Perhaps if children really did eat some snacks, play a board game, watch a Disney movie and go to sleep, we would all feel better. But we know this isn't the reality. Changing clothes, bathing and sleeping in an unfamiliar home with unfamiliar people (siblings, parents...etc) provide ample opportunity for tomorrow's news headlines. Combine that with adolescent decision-making skills, peer pressure and the physical/mental/emotional strains of sleep deprivations and, well, sleepovers just don't seem like the good idea they used to be. Here are 7 things to think about:

1. You don't know people as well as you think

How well do you know the parents of your child's friend? Even if you can answer a lot of personal questions about them, it may not be enough. No matter how much we'd like to think we know our friends and neighbors, sometimes we hardly know them at all. This isn't a matter of distrust, it's a matter of keeping your children safe. Of course you can still maintain friendships and relationships with them, but the best place for your children to sleep at night is at home, in their own beds and under your supervision. Whether or not your friends and neighbors are good or bad people isn't the question - it's a matter of keeping your children away from potentially bad situations.

2. Nothing good happens after midnight

Some of the wildest ideas occur to us after a certain hour of the night. Add in a bunch of young, impressionable minds, a desire to break a few rules, and a pinch of peer pressure, and you've got a bad situation on your hands. Even with a good amount of parental supervision (which can't be guaranteed at a sleepover), kids have a way of keeping secrets and sneaking around. Bringing children together for a long night to sleep in the same room together can bring about some behaviors or activities you may not want your child exposed to. At the end of the day, you're looking out for your child's safety and that is harder to guarantee when your child is somewhere else at the more vulnerable parts of the night.

3. Very little sleep actually happens

While the word "sleep" is in "sleepover" that doesn't mean anybody is actually sleeping. Some kids try to pull all-nighters and even when they try to sleep, they can't. Being in an unfamiliar home in an unfamiliar bed does not allow for a restful night. While staying up a bit late once in a while can be a fun treat, the reality is, children need to be sleeping in order to develop and grow properly. Missing out on sleep, children show decreases in attention span and memory at a time when school requires those skills be at their highest. Encouraging your child to stay at home and sleep in their bed will ultimately improve their quality of sleep and get the health benefits attached to that.

4. Social media only makes sleepovers worse

Peer pressure and late-night decline in decision-making skills are the primary drivers of poor behavior at sleepovers for children. However, adding in social media can catalyze those decisions. Whether encouraging kids to take part in unsavory behavior or serving as a pathway for cyber-bullying, social media serves as an opportunity to dramatically increase the negative aspects of a sleepover. Should you choose to host a sleepover at your own house, at least consider taking away phones or having them turned off and stored to limit the exposure and temptation the platforms can bring.

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5. The morning after can be disconcerting

Following a less-than-restful night's sleep, children are faced with a morning of unfamiliarity. Imagine having to wake up and not be sure if it's okay to be seen in pajamas. Should your child change right away? Where should they brush their teeth? What will be served for breakfast? Does it match their normal routine? Different family cultures can come on display in the morning to a child already in an unfamiliar environment. The emotional stress this can put onto your child combined with the physical stress of not receiving enough sleep serve as additional reminders that children are safest and healthiest when they are back in your home at night (and the subsequent next morning).

6. Sleeping provides a much-too-vulnerable environment

While not to play the part of a sensationalist, it should be called out, explicitly, that all people (children and adults) are at their most vulnerable when sleeping. While we do all we can to make sure our kids have good friends who come from safe homes, those are guarantees we can't make. We also have very little control over who else may be in a home our child's friend lives in. Opposite sex siblings, additional relatives or even other, unexpected friends could create unsafe environments for our kids. And while they are sleeping or not surrounded by people they know, our children may be less apt to ask for or receive help should a bad situation arise.

While we have calculated risks we take with our children (sending them on the school bus or off to a grandparent's house) it is well-within our best interests to minimize opportunities to jeopardize their safety and sleepovers, to me, fall in the category of unnecessary risks.

7. Special circumstances do arise

Of course, a world in which your child exclusively sleeps at your home with only your family is a world that lacks reality. Special circumstances may come up where it makes sense for your child to stay elsewhere or for you to host a child's friend. In those situations, child protection and safety should be at the forefront of planning. Where will be people sleep? Who else will be allowed in the home? Will you have the ability to communicate with your child at all times? How will you make sure there is no lack of supervision?

After everything is considered, remember, it is up to you to decide what is best for your children. While they'll certainly have pressure from friends to have sleepovers and you may feel similar pressure from those in your circle, you will never be faulted for keeping a child safe.

To make saying no to sleepover requests easier, it may be good to consider sleepover alternatives.  Perhaps you become the host of movie and game nights? Or set up special "late-overs." It's up to you, but remember, you won't regret creating a safe environment for you kids and in the future, they'll thank you as well.