“There’s this little thing that almost all teenagers develop at some point: the need for independence.” –Dana Loewen

“By the various levels of stress in my house, you would think my parents were going to college and I was staying home,” was a Facebook status I saw at the beginning of the semester. He’s got that right. It seems like in most cases, the parents freak out more than the kids do. Of course, there’s the exceptions: parents who are too busy or have too many kids to worry too much about their almost-in-college kid, or parents of kids who were such a nuisance, they say “Good riddance!” when they finally leave. Before my senior year of high school, I always thought I’d be crazy nervous when it came time to go to college. I wasn’t. There’s this little thing that almost all teenagers develop at some point: the need for independence. It feels good just to know that you could do anything you want to do. You are (or should be) adult enough to know the effects of what you do, so you get to decide what you’re going to do and accept those consequences. You no longer have to do or not do something just because your parents said so. Ah, sweet freedom! On the other hand, when you screw up there’s no one to bail you out. Ah, responsibility.