I agree with the above - take into account the maturity of the child and their ability to handle responsibility.
I have had dozens of parents look at me cross-eyed cause I let my (then) 13, 14 or 15 year old teen go away for the entire summer on a mission trip ... "oh I could never do that" was usually the response ... but I knew the ministry and I knew that they were able to do what was required of them and that it would bless them and others to go ... so they did.
As for dating - that one was our toughest challenge. My oldest was not allowed to "go with" (date) until she was a Senior in high school - but she was allowed to go to a Military Ball in 10th grade.
The second oldest was allowed to "go with" a guy alittle before her Senior year - I think it was midway through her Junior year - cause we had a contract that if her grades slipped or we had any problems at all with phone call limits that she would not be able to go out with anyone.
Dates were visits in the home (i.e. courting), as in, either the guy would visit her at our home or she would visit him at his home with parental supervision. The dates could also be something specific - as in a Prom or a church activity - none of this "hanging out at the Mall" stuff.
What was really cool is that my second DD got along so well with her boyfriend's mom that she would go over to visit the mom and she learned how to sew - his mom helped her make her Prom dress.
Now we've reached my 15 year old who was in 9th grade last year and he wanted to "go with" a girl ... which I decided to allow, but made sure that the restrictions were in place ... only home visits or supervised trips to the movie were allowed. Phone calls were limited to 30 mins or money was docked from his allowance. After his return from his mission trip this summer he broke off with this girl because she is not saved ... she still comes to church and they are still good friends. He apologized to me for giving me a hard time about phone calls and stuff, too! This confirms my decision to make sure that "dates" are according to "courting" rules and that they are supervised visits.
As for an allowance ... my oldest two were never given an allowance but we started doing an allowance for the younger two this year. Why? Because we are foster parents and we are suppose to give an allowance to any foster child in our care ... so we decided that we best let our own children in on the deal. The oldest will have his allowance docked if he doesn't do his chores or he takes too long on the phone or in the shower. I'm glad we started doing this, cause it does help with some of the little expenses that he has during his teen years. The youngest one is five, so he's building a good account for future expenses.
My oldest was my guinea pig and the so the second oldest may have been able to do some things alittle sooner, but not by much ... the 15 year old will see some restrictions that his sister's did not have, because he is a boy. In general I do a LOT of praying about certain issues and I talk to my kids - get a feel for how they are thinking and that way I can access their maturity.
Sorry this was long-winded ....