1 . My parents have very different parenting styles. Dad brings out the best in me. He is calm and reasonable and treats me like an adult.     1     She speaks to me as though I were still a child.

My friends and I think that our parents care too much about us. Take me for example.

    2     It was a journey I’d taken with Mum before. Dad was fine with the idea of me going alone, but it took weeks of arguments before Mum agreed. In her eyes, I’m not old enough to go on the trip alone. But I’m sixteen years old!

Parents need to learn to trust us. There is no point in becoming angry, which just makes things worse. A few months ago, Mum went crazy when I told her I’d been receiving e-mails from a stranger I’d met online. Since then she hasn’t allowed me to use the Internet.     3     They use monitoring software (监控软件) to secretly watch what their teenagers are looking at online.

I understand them, but they overreact (反应过激).     4     I think what they should do is keep calm and help us find a way to deal with it.

We love the idea of being really close to our parents.     5     But part of being a teenager is feeling free to take steps down new paths and learning from our own mistakes. Our parents have to let us get on with what is just a natural stage of life.