> And I see he was 16. Why were his parents letting him operate so unsupervised given his state of mind?

Normally 16-year-olds are a good few steps into the path towards adulthood. At 16 I was cycling to my part time job alone, visiting friends alone, doing my own laundry, and generally working towards being able to stand on my own two feet in the world, with my parents as a safety net rather than hand-holding.

I think most parents of 16-year-olds aren't going through their teen's phone, reading their chats.