DescentBB

Some parents are a little bit overprotective of their kids. (Mine, for example.) The kid isn't allowed on the internet, only knows the geek and deaf-mute he's home-schooled with, has never been outside of the neighborhood... So parents, ask yourself this: If you send your kid off to college without any knowledge of the outside world, are you really doing them a favor?

i think parents should allow their children to make their mistakes and learn from them. i dont think they should be given total freedom, but enough to actually have a life of their own seperate from their families so they aren't totally overwhelmed when leaving the nest.

i guess its hard to say what freedoms you should have at your age when i dont know your age... if you're 17 and arent allowed to leave the neighborhood its one thing, but if you're 10 i can understand why. it also has alot to do with gender, if you're female its harder to get that freedom at the pre-adult age becuase there just arent many people who will try to rape a male in the 13-17 range, but females in that group are prime targets. that may be a valid reason to not allow your daughter to roam the neighboring neighborhoods.

all in all though, a kid needs friends outside of his siblings.

I was given plenty of freedom when I was a child, and just look how I turned out. Better lock em all in the dungeon till they can move out of the house!

Tough question to answer; it's always situation dependant. The majority of the time I would say a sheltered life is bad. Going away for college can be a complete shock if you're not a little bit prepared for it.

My parents would yell at me more for being on the computer than anything else. If they said I couldn't do something, most of the time I did it anyway or pushed until I could do it. Then they would see either I was right or I "learned my lesson" (as if) and forget about.