Until the age of 18, children are supposed to assume that
parents know best. Parents are supposed to get you ready for the
world and help you make the right decisions along the way. But,
what happens when you reach the age of 18 and your parents don’t
believe you’re old enough to start making your own decisions about
music, school, friends and even religion?
Until the age of 18, children are supposed to assume that parents know best. Parents are supposed to get you ready for the world and help you make the right decisions along the way. But, what happens when you reach the age of 18 and your parents don’t believe you’re old enough to start making your own decisions about music, school, friends and even religion?
I’ve been lucky in my family – I was raised in a Christian home all my life. I went to church every Sunday, Catechism every Wednesday, I was baptized, I had Holy Communion and I even played the Virgin Mary in the Christmas Pageant two Christmas Eve’s in a row. As I grew older, going to church became far and few, and I began to gain knowledge of the world around me. I’ve come to question religion, science and everything in the world. I started to create my values which will be with me the rest of my life and my parents haven’t cast me out because of my questioning the world around me.
Other teenagers however, aren’t as lucky. Some are forced to go to church, forced to learn a religion, and are told that reading certain books, listening to certain music and even talking to certain people is evil and is everything that is wrong in the world. They aren’t allowed freedom within the home of creating an independent mind in which they will base the rest of their lives on. Instead, they are cast out of a family and into the arms and homes of friends who understand.
“In my family, if I chose to go a different direction with my religion, my parents wouldn’t cast me out; they’d hope that I made a good decision,” said Ben Bannister, an SBHS senior.
Some people are lucky and know and try to understand their parents.
“If my parents tell me to be home at a certain time and I don’t understand why, I’ll ask and it helps me understand my parents and the decisions they make for me,” Bannister said.
Some parents just say “because I said so,” and it’s hard for teenagers to understand why they say that and what gives them the right to do so. Sure, they gave birth to you, they’ve raised you, but there comes a time where you start to become an adult and leave the home, or at least deserve an explanation on why they do the things they do.
As June gets closer and teenagers, along with parents, have to start adjusting to the fact that the house will be empty and their babies will be out on their own.
Even if they still have a few years left in high school, they’re becoming adults, and, as parents, you should trust that you’ve raised your children with a level head and let them make some of their own decisions for once. You never know, maybe the decisions they make aren’t so bad after all.
Meghan Phillips is a senior at San Benito High School.
