By Aisha Espinosa
Staff Writer

It is late on a Friday night, post Coppell football game victory. Pumped and ready for the weekly queso party that band hosts, I check my phone, hoping for my mom to agree to drive me there. And the battle over curfew, over choice, over my rights to be have time to myself, begins.

The  curfew argument – along with the fight for more time with friends – is  often lost by teenagers. Parents usually take the victory because they – for the most part – are right. Homework comes first, sleep is necessary… the list goes on.

But sometimes, there are places that I have to go to, if nothing more to learn more about myself and how I fit into this world. It is necessary for me to make mistakes and learn what is right and what is wrong. Without the freedom to be a teenager once in awhile, how can you learn about yourself and the world?

If this means staying out into the late hours of the night to spend time with the band and eating tortilla chips, then so be it.

For the sake of all the teenagers who are still trying to identify themselves, I firmly believe that if parents grant their kids more freedom they are given the opportunity to discover  how they can impact the world.

I myself have  experienced this, when my parents made the shocking decision to let me travel through Europe without them. My supervision included four Girl Scout Troop leaders and my company was almost 30 other girls.

Oh, did freedom feel amazing. It was indescribable, being responsible for myself and all of my belongings and suddenly having responsibility thrust on my shoulders. My experience was unforgettable, and I’ll have my parents to thank for the person became on the two week trip.

On my Europe trip, I had to be independent, had to make friends, had to break out of a shell I often retreated into because I felt like I was not good enough.

And for their choice to let me go and have some experience that was mine and not ours, I can now call myself independent, confident, and an all around better person.

Parents, think twice before you say “no” to a late night out or out of town field trip. The experience your kids could have had may change them for the better.