Should Parents Give Freedom to Teenagers?

Rules are meant to be broken, forbidding something makes the temptation that much greater. But what if nothing is forbidden, will that lessen the temptation?

A parent’s job is to teach the difference between right and wrong, monitor behavior, discipline, love, and care for their child; but beyond all of those things, trust their child. The thing about trust is, it’s earned, and it’s easy to lose. Teenage kids want their parents to trust them with their freedom, but with the freedom comes responsibility.

Teenagers are known to be irresponsible, to make mistakes. So how can teenagers be trusted when there is temptation around every corner, willing them to make a mistake every change they get? How can a parent be sure they raised their child to know right from wrong, to not make mistakes? No parent can know their teen will make the right choice; they have to believe in their kid’s ability to do so.

Not everyone will make the same mistake, not everyone will want to try everything presented to them. Parents have to trust their child enough to let them make their own mistakes. 
“You may have heard the story about the little boy who was watching a butterfly struggle to break out of a cocoon. Feeling sorry for the butterfly, they boy opened the cocoon and set the butterfly free. But after flying only a few yards, the butterfly fell to the ground and died. The little boy hadn’t realized that the butterfly needed the struggle to gain the strength that would allow it to fly and live.”
Teens cannot grow up if their parents are not allowing them to break free of their restraints and insecurities by themselves.

When a parent sets so many rules, standards, and guidelines that there is little room for expression of individuality, and to grow and learn, it leaves the teen with a choice; which rules, standards, and guidelines they break. “It is important for parents to make rules for their young children. As children get older, however, they need to lean and make some of their own decisions and life choices.” When a parent trusts their kid to the extent that they allow their teen freedom to experiment, the teenager is much more likely to respect their parents and their rules.

There is another side to parent’s allowance of teenager’s freedom. They allow too much. If a parent sets no standards for what is expected from the teen, if there are no rules, what is restricting the teen from trying anything and everything the teen can get their hands on? “Parents can prevent or delay their children from using alcohol and marijuana if they set clear rules and expectations.” A parent’s role in a child’s life may mean the difference between what they do, and what they don’t do. Some teenagers have set standards for personal reasons for where they draw the line on when to say yes or to say no. other teens are ready and willing to try anything and everything they can get their hands on. If their parents don’t disapprove or care, what’s stopping them?

Teens don’t always deserve a large amount of freedom, but before a parent restricts all opportunities a teen has of trust, respect, and freedom, they should listen to the teen’s reasoning on everything they’ve done. People make mistakes; it’s only human. But, after a teen makes a mistake, blowing up and restricting everything the teenager can do won’t stop them from doing anything. Teenagers will sneak around, lie, go behind backs, and not trust or respect their parents any more than their parents do them.

So, should teens be allowed freedom? To a certain extent, yes. Should parents have rules and guidelines? Yes. Can freedom be exercised and abused by kids? Freedom can be abused by anyone. But, teens should be trusted with the freedom they deserve and a chance to explain when they make mistakes. They are, after all, only human, a perfectly imperfect species. 




  Written & Edited by-Nur Imanina Izzaty Bt Hussin

Teenagers' Problems

Recently, it is not difficult to find some teenagers have a poor relationship with their parents. This issue will damage the communication skills of teenagers. It is an acute problem for them. It has already become a trend. Without doubts, it has aroused a great public concern for this. Due to the poor relationship, teenagers are always unwilling to talk with their parents. Parents have not a chance to listen their feeling.   Surely, nowadays, teenagers always study round a clock because of their great deal of homework and examinations. In addition, school bully problem is like the whirlwind spreading all over the schools. Apparently, teenagers are bearing a high pressure and feel suffocated. Unfortunately, owing to the bad relationship, their communication skills will be broken. They are unwilling to share their ups and downs with their parents. They also can’t communicate with the others. They can’t make friend with others. Thus, no one can share their pressure.

They are lonely. They are facing the difficulty alone. Obviously, they lack ability to tackle all the problems. Moreover, some bad information may mislead the immature ones to go astray. In some extreme cases, they may even want to escape from reality by committing suicide. Therefore, because of the poor relationship, teenagers can’t growth up health. The communication will be broken.How can we solve the problem between teenagers and their parents? How can we help them to build up a relationship between teenagers and their parents? How can we recover their broken communication skills? Education is the effective method to tackle the poor relationship problem. We should educate that all the parents love their children. All the things they do are for their children. Teenagers should not think their parents are trouble. Thus, teenagers should build up good relationship with their parents.




  Written & Edited by-Nur Imanina Izzaty Bt Hussin

Teenagers Today

   Today's teenagers, in general, have the right to obtain education. In my opinion, only the educations can increase the literacy among the teenagers and hence teenagers will have a wider range of communication. Why does communication seem to be so important? For your information, by communicating with others, we can actually exchange our ideas with them. Isn't good for us? On the contrary, if we do not obtain education, we definitely cannot communicate well with others. This will lead to misunderstanding which subsequently leads to quarrels or even wars. Hence, teenagers have the responsibility to study and complete their given tasks, homework or assignment.

   In addition, teenagers have the right to participate in family, cultural and social life. Teenagers should learn to mix well with others be it a Malay, a Chinese or an Indian. For example, teenagers should be actively involved in the activities held in the residential areas such as 'gotong-royong'. Besides, teenagers are also responsible to help around the house. To illustrate, they can help in the household chores such as sweeping and mopping the floor, wiping the window, wash the clothes and others. These can help to shape the teenagers to be more responsible and be more independent.

   Nowadays, the teenagers appear to be revolting throughout the world. On top of that, teenagers today succumb to various influences. For instance, moral values and graciousness, in the past, were prominent in most teenagers. However, these moral values and self-discipline hold by the teenagers are gradually diminishing over the years. This lack of self-discipline and self control is becoming more and more apparent over time. Even the simplest of morals say, respect, care and consideration are fading away over the years. In particular, a simple display of respect like offering the elderly a seat on the bus is being replaced by other violent acts.

   Furthermore, teenagers today tend to lead a modern lifestyle as compared to the teenagers in the past. Unlike those days, teenagers are forced to stay at home playing all kinds of simple games; teenagers today have variety of choice or games, for example, computer games. Teenagers too, seem to like the same kind of things and adopt similar fashions. In particular, walk man and modern hand phones seem to be inseparable for the teenagers. The long hairstyle of the teenagers of the western countries has also become very common in our country. Moreover, teenagers today often staying up late or even involving in social ills. It's very sad to hear that the percentage of teenagers involved in social ills is increasing. Hence, some actions must be taken to stop the teenagers from continue to abuse themselves.

   In a nutshell, teenagers, the cream of the society, must not be allowed to move on the path of destruction. The home and the school have a tremendous responsibility in shaping the character of the teenagers. The teenagers need people to advise them, guide them, and to lead and show them the path of righteous and enjoyable activities. The correct directions given to teenagers can help them to be good and useful men of tomorrow.

  Written & Edited by-Nur Imanina Izzaty Bt Hussin