I used to lie to her parents in order to gain some much needed freedom. Then she got smart... read this story from one 16 year old..

My Mum and Dad never used to let me do anything...or so it seemed. If I was invited to a party, they'd always insist of dropping me off right outside the door and then they'd come and pick me up way earlier than anyone else. I was never allowed to go on the bus with my friends, go out with people my Mum didn't know or go to my friend's house if their parents weren't definitely going to be there. It used to cause huge rows between us and it meant that I'd tell lies just to be able to go out and do what I wanted to do. I also felt like I was the only one with such strict parents and it was getting me down.

I remember one time I wanted to go to this huge party but my Mum wouldn't let me so I arranged to sleep over at my friend Sarah's house that night. I then told her Mum I was allowed to go to the party so off we went. Except, of course I got found out because my Mum rang Sarah's Mum to tell her that they needed to pick me up a bit earlier than we'd arranged in the morning...only I wasn't there. It caused the hugest row and I was grounded for what seemed like forever.

While I was grounded, I started thinking that there had to be a better way to get my freedom than this constant cycle ofrows, lies and being put on curfews. I sat my Mum and Dad down and tried to talk it through with them reasonably. I explained why I wanted more freedom, promised that if they gave me a bit more leeway I wouldn't abuse their trust and tried to show them that I could be responsible but trying to sort the problem out without screaming. It was very difficult but to my surprise they actually listened to me. I'm not saying I was allowed out every night, all night after that, but once I'd explained how important it was to me that they showed me they trusted me things got a bit easier. Now I've just got to persuade them to let me go on holiday with my mates.....maybe by the time I'm 21 they'll agree!