Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Young people today are less dependent on their parents than in the past. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

I will give my opinion only based on observation without any solid statistic or any sociological approach. I think indeed young people now are more independent from their parents than before.

The world itself is changing at a remarkable speed. This means it offers to us a tremendous number of options to find things to do and live on our own. One of the most noticeable situations is that much more people have started going for an adventure than several decades away. My girlfriend is from the United States. She is quite an amazing existence. When she was 22 years old, she alone came to Beijing and started her unique journey. Three years later, she achieved a fabulous outcome: she was employed by a very popular publishing house in China and assisted editing/translating several books which have been published with her name on their covers; she is working in one of the largest education groups in the world whose headquarter is located in Beijing. That has only been two and half years and she even has earned enough money to go back and forth between the US and China. On the street of Beijing, you will see millions of young people like her who never feel tied up with their parents but pursuing a way of life they have always dreamt of.

Another perspective of “being independent” is often viewed from the way young people think. Being independent from parents not only refers to financially independent but also means young people nowadays are more likely to consider things more independently and critically. I happened to make friends with several young fellas who have a very inspiring spirit. They collected several thousands of dollars to set up a Youth Space which basically is a platform for students to read and communicate onn a variety of subjects such as historiography, politics, international affairs and fine arts. What they have done attracted more and more people to attend their seminars and reading sessions. Now several entrepreneurs are thinking to fund them to keep this sparkling of independent thinking to maintain. These are all things they might not obtain from their parents but their own endeavor and persistence.

Among my students, there are so many promising young people who are eager to see the world outside and live independently. Even though some of them have not figured out how exactly but as long as they keep those thoughts in mind, they would never be off the way. This is something unimaginable several decades away, when young people didn’t actually have so many choices to explore the world besides living rooted to their small quiet towns or villages with their parents.

I always have this striking moment to realize how big a picture is always presented in front of the young people nowadays. The social trend, as far as I have seen, obviously stated a fact: the world is becoming younger, and will definitely leave the long-gone old era to an obscured shame.