no kids want to learn things for themselves. they dont necessarily think that their parents are dumb or whatever, kids just want to learn from the own mistakes. kids should be able to make their own decisions at around 18, or when the show a great level of maturity. parents need to learn to back off and realize that they dont always know what is best. i am not jumping on all of the parents, i know that they love their children. it just seems like because they constantly tell them what to do (when they kids are adults) the parents think that the kids cant think for themselves.
yes i am letting my personal life influence this statement.

Honest, I'm not trying to be smug, overbearing, all knowing, a smartass or anything else.

But, let's visit this topic again in fifteen or twenty years and see what perspectives have changed.

When I was your age....
 

I usually ran things by my parents, especially big things. I also have the blessing/curse of THREE older sisters and an older brother. When I finally became a teenager there was nothing left to do to rebel and torment my parents with. I couldn't do anything original like get a tattoo, stay out all night, sneak off to Mexico, shack up and live with someone, or elope. My brother is rather well behaved as well. I could have gotten pregnant but I wasn't dating seriously since boys my age were dumb. I think if I truly wanted to rebel I would have to become a Republican and joined the Marines. My parents being liberal and living in San Francisco made me quite conservative. I still haven't smoked a cigarette or tried recreational drugs, but I drink

Here is an example...I met a youngish man in his late twenties. He is a former Navy SEAL rides has a Harley, has tattoos and thinks he is rather bad ass. He says "oh I bet your parents will freak when you bring me home for Sunday dinner, your mom will be shocked and your step father will want to kill me!" little did he know my mother is married to an ex-SEAL who was also a biker. Nice try. Like I said, if he was a Republican and a Marine, it would have been quite different.

What scares me is when I start to sound or act like my mother...especially in reference to obnoxious teenagers...ugh.

The older I get, it seems that my world differs more and more from what my parents did at my age, so it's hard for them to give me advice about what to do as far as my life as it stands today is. A large amount of mutual trust and respect exists between me and Mommy and Daddy Munchkin, so I can usually tell the difference between "we're doing this for your own good," and attempts to control what they cannot. Besides, by the time I came around, they were pretty laid-back! :D

As the all-knowing Arya would (probably) say:

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

ITs funny that you mention 15-20 years here DeltaAlum. In free response surveys given to people at the end of their life spans the most common response about things they wished they did was take more risks and chances.

But they are not being asked as parents, they are being asked as individuals with a great deal of experience.

The problem with dealing with "parents" and I haven't had any in a long time, is they distill their experience and present it to you through the ROLE of being a parent.

Always keep that role in mind when talking to them, because it will color any advice they give you. A good question for a parent to ask himself/herself is would he/she give the same exact advice to someone they had no emotional investment.

Kind of those Rose Colored Glasses Kant mentions.