Although I felt fortunate for the lenience I received growing up, there were still chains I did not have the keys to unlock.

Clothes worn as kids, activities joined as adolescents, curfews established as teenagers, people dated as adults; all decisions in which we had a say, more or less.

We all make conscious decisions. We follow what our head tells us to do or we go against it. Whenever I think of my conscience, I think of Jiminy Cricket. I only wish my conscience was a happy little grasshopper. Alas, the voice inside of my head is that of my parents.

Parents have always been an influential part of their children's lives. In turn, children respond to the type of influence their parents have on them. Some children chose to obey, while others rebel. Why is this?

Many children argue it’s because their parents are too controlling.

Upon moving to college, I looked forward to my long anticipated freedom. Although I felt fortunate for the lenience I received growing up, there were still chains I did not have the keys to unlock.

My first week away was a release. I had no curfew, didn't have to check in when I got home, and made my own plans. However, every time I was faced with a decision, the voice in my head chimed in.

There are those of us who have grown up with little to no binding chains to our parents.

“I never gave my parents a reason not to trust me, so they did,” said Stacey Paprocki, freshman. People in Paprocki's position, where parents trust their children, seem to have an easy enough solution. If the child can be trusted, trust them. If the child breaks the trust, there should be consequences.

I'll be the first to confess, most of the time my parents were right. My mom did a great job raising my younger sister and me to be independent young women and she says she learned how to do that from her mother, my grandmother.

Perhaps I could've stayed out until 2 a.m. instead of 11 p.m. or only had to say, “See you later,” instead of a detailed report of my whereabouts when I went out. I realize that what seemed overbearing at the time was a way to make me responsible for myself.

Parents and children rebel alike. Children rebel when they don't get what they want, and parents become demanding when their initial requests aren't met. This ongoing battle between parents and children will never end.

In retrospect, parents have more to lose on their end. If we submit to some of their “overbearing demands,” we miss out on some fun.

However, if they didn't place the concern out there, they could lose their children. If we, as children, take time to understand why our parents ask us to do certain things, we can better appreciate the motives. Then, we can find a medium between their requests and our freedom.

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