In the constitution of the United States the first amendment declares that we are free, which allows us to be able to express ourselves, pursuit happiness and choose our own religion. We are free to do all of this but we are being constantly influenced by other people to change the way we are to fit in. We can not express ourselves if our opinions are considered dumb and lame, instead have to follow a certain ‘lifestyle’. And sometimes adding the pressure we get by our parents, a lot of us can't act ourselves around them. Knowing all of this the question that needs to be asked here is, are we, teenagers, really free?

Legally we are but, our parents control our lives, set rules and take any medical and financial decisions for us. Our parents control who we go out with (if they even let us go out), what we do, and pretty much do whatever they want with us until  we are 18 . Opening the gates of hell or heaven for some, we are met with school the place where we go to learn and carve our path to adulthood. Where we are bossed around (with good intentions of course), given loads of (unnecessary) homework and taught the basics (Math, Science, English, Social Studies) for college.  Unfortunately, for some people this is where our problems start, where jails are formed that keep us from being who we really want to be, where society comes blaring its norms and ‘rules’. Society ties us down, it dictates what is ‘in’ and what is ‘out’, what we need to wear, what music to listen to…

We are currently in the twenty one century, and is safe to say that technology has taken over our daily lives. You can not go outside without seeing someone on their smartphone, either in a call, texting or taking the famous selfies. Social medias are one of the most influential sources teens have, good and bad. Teens now spend more time online than what they do socialising with others. They are brainwashing us, setting images of what the perfect person is supposed to be, and what is considered ‘cool’.

If we really look around us and we take things in we will notice that most of us are a slightly different replicas of each other. We care too much about what other people think, that we hide our true selves just to fit in. Being free means not  being scared to express yourself, being able to wear that shirt you liked without none judging you, being able to voice out your opinion without someone shutting you because it's ‘stupid’. Luckily, there are some people who are their own leaders , who do what makes them happy no matter what and we should all be like that . We should all be free.  Look at yourself and ask, am I really truly free?