Leaving Home... the teenage dilemma

Section 1      Background.

     THE TEENAGE DREAM

    Almost every 16-year old has thought about leaving home.
    Many have been thinking about it, off and onfrom time to time , for years; some have been dreaming of independence since they were twelve, or even younger. Leaving home is part of the teenage dream.
   A surveystudy of "Young People's Social Attitudes" recently asked British teenagers for their opinions about leaving home. Forty-nine per cent of 12-15 year olds thought that teenagers should be allowed to leave home at the age of 16; another 12% said 17, and 8% said "when they want". Only 23% of young teenagers thought that they should be obliged to live at home until they were 18!
    Yet the teenage dream seems to conflict withdisagree with the experience of real life; when the same question was put to 18 and 19-year olds, almost half replied that teenagers should not leave home before the age of 18.
    Nevertheless, leaving home is part of the processaction of growing upbecoming an adult. Many teenagers leave to go and study or train or look for a job in a different town or city, returning home when the money runs outends, finishes. Others leave because they just want to get out. Most, specially younger ones, are happy to go home again later; for a small number, leaving home is a definitivepermanent, final breakchange in situation.

   

HOME OR HOMELESS?

     Every year,  thousands of young people in Britain leave home in search of a better or more exciting life; many of them go to London, attracted by the bright lights, the night life, the youth scenethe world of young people and the hope of finding work.
    16-year olds who leave school with few or no qualifications find it very hard to get jobs; indeed, in some British cities, particularly in the North, finding work is almost impossible for unqualified people, specially young people. London, however, has less unemployment and more jobs; and though no one imagines that the streets of the capital are "paved with gold" (as in the legend), many teenagers make their way to the capital, hoping to set up a new home of their own.
    Though there are indeed more jobs in London than in most other cities, they are not always good jobs, and the the dream of leaving home and finding a job often turns out to be just that; a dream.
    Many return home; some become homeless.
    Homelessness is not a new problem, and there are many associations that help homeless people to find somewhere to live. And although, overall, fewer people keep coming to London in search of a new life, the number of young people doing so has gone up sharply; their reasons for coming have changed too.
   London's biggest homeless charityorganisation that helps people, Centrepoint, reported that causes of homelessness among teenagers have changed ; instead of leaving home because of "pull factors" (the attraction of London, the hope of a job) more and more young people now leave home because of "push factors", victims of broken homesfamilies that have broken up, poverty or physical aggression.
    It's all part of our changing society. In 1961, only about 5% of children (about half a million children) in Britain lived in singlejust one-parent families; in 2025, about 25% of children, that is 3.3 million children, lived in single-parent families. Single-parent families are generally poorer than traditional families.
    Even teenagers with caringloving, kind parents and lovely homes dream of leaving home. Kids in poor or aggressive homes dream too; in their situation, it's not surprising that they may want to make their dreams come true.

Section 2      Teenagers speak.

Three teenagers' stories

“Home’s O.K!” says Simon. “In fact, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best place to be, even if you can’t always do what you want!! If you live at home, you’ve got to obey a few rules, that’s obvious; but my parents are quite tolerant really! I s'posesuppose, imagine it’d be different if they tried to lock me up or something, but they don’t. It’s a matter of respect.. They leave me to it; that way everyone’s happy! BesidesAlso, In addition, it’s much easier living at home if you can. You get your meals cooked and your washing done for you; and it’s far cheaper than living on your own! I’ll move out when I go to university, but I’ll come home in the vacation. Why not: It’s home, after all, isn’t it?”

    It was one evening in April that Sarah decided to leave home. It was not that she disliked her home; not even that she had a lot of arguments with her parents. As a family, everyone got on quite well together; but in the small Dorset town of Crewkerne, there wasn't exactly a lot to do. Besides, Sarah didn't actually live in Crewkerne, but in a village where there was even less to do. She was fed up withhad had enough of school too. Though she had done quite well in her GCSEgeneral certificate exams, she had not chosen the right subjects for "A" level and had become disillusionedunhappy.
    Her parents liked the village life; her father, a businessman, was always travelling, and enjoyed coming back at weekends to the peace of  Dorset; her mother had a part-time job in the town. Her elder brother was away at university, her 14-year old sister was, in Sarah's words, "a nuisance".
    "I just wanted to get out," says Sarah. "I felt too cooped upenclosed, limited; and it was so boring. So I decided to come up to London. For the time being I'm selling beadscheap coloured stones, but I'm looking for a proper job too."
    Sarah is one of the lucky ones. Her parents are giving her an allowancemoney until she finds a job, and she lives with two other girls in a flat in Hampstead. She's artistic, she doesn't smoke or take drugs, and can talk intelligently. She'll probably get a job quite quickly.
    "I'm glad I left home," she says; "I'm 18 now, and I'm in charge of my own life. I go home quite often; but I prefer living my own life."

DARREN: PUSHED

    Darren claimssays that he was pushed out of his home.
    "I lived with my mum and two brothers in Bedford, but I couldn't stand it any more. My mum didn't have a job, and she was always yellingshouting at us. I was in care for three years. Then I went back to live with my mum. In the end I just decided to quit. I don't want to go back; not for a while, anyway."
    For the last year, Darren has been living in a hostelhotel for young people for the homeless, and at the moment he's doing a training course, to become a builder.
    "There's plenty of work in the building tradeprofession, sector in London right now," he says, "So I should get a job quite easily. Then I'll get myself a proper place to live. I'd like to have my own place. A proper home of my own, so as to speak. I can't say I've really ever had a home before."


Section 3      Living at school.

AWAY TO SCHOOL

    Often in Britain, it is parents who send their children to make a new home, away from home. At school.
    For hundreds of years, "boardingschools where pupils live schools" have played an important part in British life.
    Not for everyone, of course; far from it. But boarding schools are part of middle class culture, especially in the south of England, where around 20% of all 17-year olds in secondary schools are in feemoney-paying independent schools. Though the numbers are slowly falling, about 69,000 pupils in Britain were boarders in 2024.
    Many parents (and grand parents) save money for years, in order to be able to send their children to boarding school.
    "My dad worked as a flying instructor in Saudi Arabia for ten years," explains Nikki. "He saved as much as he could, to send me and my sister to a good school. He could have spent it on other things; for instanceexamplehe could have bought a big BMW,  but we've had the same car for five years, a VW, and it was second-handnot new when we bought it."
    According to classic images, boarding schools are spartan places, with cold dormitories and strict rules; but the image is no longer true.
    "I started boarding when I was 14," says William; "The worst thing about it was the first few weeks, when it was all new and strange. But now I feel much more independent.
    I like coming home for hols, but I like it at school too. It's not like it used to be, with big cold dorms and corporal punishment! You've got to obey the rules, of course; but that's part of life!"
   
    For young people who cannot "go away" to school, university offers the chance of breaking free.
    While in many parts of Europe students tend to study at universities and colleges close to home, the British tradition is very different.
    "I certainly wouldn't have wanted to go to college in my home town," says Tom. "One of the great things about going to university is that you get away from home! Universities recruitattract students nationally, and when you applybecome a candidate, you usually apply to several different universities. You choose your universities for the courses they offer, not because they're near your home.
    I go home to see my parents in the holidays, but that's all. As far as I'm concerned, I've left home now. I certainly wouldn't want to go back home at weekends! That's when everything happens!"

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Interactive Student Worksheet

Home or homeless?

Find words or expressions in this section of the article that mean

Choose the most appropriate answer based on the text.    

   

Teachers section

Grammar

Two grammar points are well illustrated in this article:  Present Perfect tenses (simple and continuous) and comparaison with adjectives.

Here is how each theme is used throughout the text:

1. Present perfect tenses (simple and continuous)

Because the article discusses trends, dreams, and life situations that started in the past but are directly connect to the present, it serves as a textbook showcase for both the Present perfect simple and the Present perfect continuous (has/have + been +− ing).

Present Perfect Continuous (for ongoing actions over time):

•     "Many have been thinking about it... for years..."
•     "...some have been dreaming of independence since they were twelve..."
•     "For the last year, Darren has been living in a hostel..."

Present Perfect Simple (for life experiences or recent changes):

•     "Almost every 16-year old has thought about leaving home."
•  "...the number of young people doing so has gone up sharply..."
•     "...their reasons for coming have changed too."
•      "For hundreds of years, 'boarding schools' have played an important part..."

2. Advanced Comparative Structures

The text relies heavily on comparisons to contrast the expectations of teenagers against the reality of leaving home, as well as to show changing social trends over time. It specifically highlights repeated (double) comparatives to show gradual progression. Here are some examples- there are others too.

Repeated Comparatives (to show a continuous change):

• "...becoming later and later..."
• "...developing at a younger and younger age."
• "...more and more young people now leave home..."
• "...his company got bigger and bigger..." (from the previous text, mirroring the pattern here)

Standard Comparatives and Superlatives:

• "...the difficulties are perhaps greater than ever before."
• "...the reality can often be much harder than they imagine."
• "Single-parent families are generally poorer than traditional families."
• "...it’s the best place to be..."
• "...it’s far cheaper than living on your own!"
• "But now I feel much more independent."

Other ideas?
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Answers to multiple choice questions:     B C B C

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Updated from an article originally published in Freeway, the Intermediate level English newsmagazine.
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