A common complaint among teenagers today is about having too little freedom. The usual response from their parents is that they had even less freedom when they were young. Unfortunately for the average teenager, their parents are usually right. Today’s youths do have more freedom than before, especially in the three areas of knowledge, communication, and money.
Today’s youths have more freedom to find and exchange information. The main reason for this is, of course, the invention of the Internet and other forms of information technology. Youths are free to obtain information from websites like Wikipedia and HowStuffWorks. They are also able to share information with one another easily through blogs and other wikis. This new information freedom was not available to most of the previous generation. Therefore, youths today definitely are freer to get and share information than before.
Besides that, youths today have more social freedom than before. Social networks like Facebook, Whatsapp and Skype running over the Internet allow young people to make new friends and communicate with friends more easily than ever before. While the previous generation did have access to telephones, today’s youths often own mobile phones, which gives them not only the ability to speak with friends wherever they are but also share pictures, music, and videos with them easily. This has enabled today’s youths to have more freedom in their social life.
Finally, youths today have more freedom with their money. In the olden days, children had to ask their parents for money whenever they needed to buy something. Modern parents are more likely to give their children a lump sum monthly for their pocket money. Parents today are more educated and believe in teaching their children how to manage money from a young age. Once they have decided on a reasonable amount of allowance for their child, they leave it to their child to decide on how to spend that money. Hence, modern parenting allows youths more say in managing their money.
In conclusion, youths today do have more freedom than before. This is clearly seen in their increased freedom to access information, along with more social and economic freedom. Indeed, youths have little to complain about if they compare the level of freedom they enjoy to the restricted lifestyle of their parents’ teenage years.
