If a parent doesn’t feel as if their teenager is responsible enough or mature enough to be out with their friends, then the level of control the parent should have should be higher. Studies show in the article “Teen Peer Pressure” that, “By the time adolescents are just 13, one in five has tried smoking.” (Heubeck, 1) As a parent if you were to hear that your child was the one out of the five that had been smoking you would lose that trust that you had in your child. You wouldn’t feel as though your teen was very mature or responsible anymore. In cases like this it is better for a parent to have more control and the right to be able to look at the child’s phone or social networking page often. In the article, “Facebook’s new geotagging ability brings potential abuse,” Neisha Lofing asks the question, “What if a boy in your son’s class posts a Facebook comment about studying after school and tags your parent-free home?” (Lofing, 1) This depicts another example of how immature teens can put themselves in danger by misusing the Internet. Not only danger, but also the loss of trust if your son did not communicate with you that he was having friends over, especially when no adults are present. Thus, a parent should have the right to monitor what the child does or says on the Internet. Parents should be able to have more control over their teen if they don’t feel the teen is able to handle themselves or be mature enough outside of their household.
Parents may never want to let their child go, but as they grow older teens will need to learn how to be responsible on their own without help. If a teen can prove himself to be responsible or mature then the amount of control the parent has should be lower. As stated by the Massachusetts General Hospital, “Some researchers feel that teens who are reared in excessively permissive environments may have disadvantages compared to those who are raised in a more flexible but firm setting.” (Mass. General Hospital, 1) This quote illustrates how teens that are pressured and always monitored by their parents will in the future make more bad decisions. However, teens that are raised in more laid-back settings with parents that don’t over control their teens will not experience disadvantages. This proves a teen that is mature and knows how to respectfully handle themselves outside of their household should have a lower amount of control put on by their parents. Another example of this can be found from the article “Romeo and Juliet in Bosnia.” This article describes two youth in that fall in love during the time of the Serbian War. The main character’s father approves of the young lovers relationship by saying, “Well, I knew from the first day about that relationship and I didn’t have anything against it. I though it was good because her guy was so likable, and after time I started to love him and didn’t regard him any differently then Admira.” (Herbert, 1) This is an example of two young lovers who were trusted by their parents to be mature and maintain a healthy relationship. As the story continues, the two youth found themselves in love and love is that of maturity. If a teenager feels as though he or she is capable of loving someone a parent should notice that their teen is growing up and no longer needs them there. Admira’s father felt that he was able to trust Admira to make the right decisions and allowed Admira to gain her independence through the freedom her parents gave her. The amount of control a parent has should be lower if the teen can prove himself to be mature.
Whether the parents think so or not they should not have a lot of control over their teens. Although, the high or low amount should be based on the teen’s level of maturity. Parents will always want to watch what their child is doing and participating in but they need to realize that the teenage years are meant for a teen to live and become independent. In the future parents wont always be there for their teens and in order to be a good parent they need to step back and should prepare their teen to make decisions on their own. However, if teens are not able to be responsible enough to handle being with their friends in public, then the amount of control the parents bestow needs to be greater to set their teen in the right direction. Parents often feel as though their children will forevermore be their precious little ones but eventually they will have to venture off and become responsible for their own self-being. A decision on how much control a parent should have over their child needs to be decided based on the teen’s level of maturity.
