In today’s technologically and socially advanced world, teenagers have more freedom than ever. While some believe that this freedom could eventually lead to problems in the future, others argue that it is essential for them in order to be prepared to face the real or adult world.
Some individuals think that this freedom would only cause problems. One key argument in favor of this view is that teenagers would get involved in criminal activity. Most adolescents have access to the internet at all times. While the internet is considered to be a great tool for learning and connecting with like-minded individuals, it can still be used for many dangerous activities. For example, the dark or deep web which almost every single criminal activity goes on, is extremely accessible to anybody with basic internet knowledge. Advocates of this view also suggest that this freedom allows adolescents to revel against their parents or even society in most extreme cases. To illustrate, there is a new perilous growing online community that houses “incels”. These are most likely teenage boys that feel deep hatred for girls probably because they got rejected. The dangerous element here is however, how people in this community encourage each other to preform acts of vengeance against the opposite gender. This has ultimately led to an increase in the number of depressed young boys and dead young girls.
Conversely, others believe that the freedom teenagers have today would actually help them navigate the real world from a young age. Proponents of this view argue that being exposed to the dangers of the adult world would help them gauge and learn “the hard way” that the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. To illustrate, being able to learn about incel groups would enable them to distinguish right from wrong later on in life. It is worth noting that freedom allows for creative expression. Older generations always claim that they couldn’t connect with their parents and that they felt that they were too far away from them. This isn’t the case with this young generation, as they have more meaningful talks with their parents which makes them feel supported whatever they do. Consequently, to tie this back to the main point, this support empowers free expression of oneself.
In conclusion, the freedom that teenagers enjoy today has its advantages and disadvantages. I believe it is up to parents to control the amount of freedom that their child gets but they should know that leaning to either extreme – absolute or restricted freedom – may cause devastating effects on their child.