How free should teens be? It's actually very simple, how responsible do you believe your kid/teen is? For instance if you can leave your teen with your younger child without second guessing their safety without parental supervision that teen given that they are actively demonstrating responsibility should be given more freedom gradually. It all depends on what your teen can and can't do on their own so really it’d be something a teen earns by showing maturity and responsibility. In the world we live in now teens tend to grow up faster than the parents did in their generation so they see traditional parenting as toxic parenting. Some parents may think that's the way to raise well mannered children but according to the family and youth institute strict/toxic parents raise teens with low self esteem and actually pushes their teen away from the parent. According to the Family and Youth Institute,  kids that have abusive and/or neglective parents at home are 47% more likely to get into “delinquent acts”  than a kid with a productive and protective relationship with their parents. The relationship between the parents and children can't feel as if the teen or parent is being controlled. Once a parent holds their teen to a certain expectation that the parent was maybe held to when they were kids it becomes overwhelming for teens especially being in their developing stage. The goal as a parent is to prepare your child for life more than your parents did and be there for their learning curves when they make mistakes. It's also not completely on the parents as the teen you should be showing your parents that you deserve the freedom you want, there is a couple simple actions a teen can use to build the trust to gain some freedom for example if you want a later curfew your current curfew is 8pm, First action could be coming in before your current curfew never be late your parents would rather see you in before 8pm rather than after 8pm or even at 8pm, second action asking to stay out in advance, that way it gives the parents time to think about their decision but not only that they can prepare themselves for your absence and even then if you are given a later curfew you shouldn't be coming in late that's a quick way to show your not as responsible as you claim you are to your parents. Both parent and child have to come to agreement as the child gets older so both are in control of the expectation of the kid