Research finds: Being a teen today is a breeze compared to what their parents endured

Having to walk to the video shop to rent a film, fiddling with your TV aerial for hours to get a better signal – and writing hand written essays until your hand hurt are among a list of things modern teens will NEVER have to experience, according to their parents.

Researchers surveyed parents who were teenagers themselves in the 80s and 90s and found being a teen today is a breeze compared to what they had to endure.

According to the study by broadbandchoices.co.uk, 62 percent believe teen life is FAR less cringeworthy than it ever was for them, with 86 percent claiming they experienced a host of annoyances and embarrassments their own children will never have to face.

Other nostalgic pains parents believe today’s teens are entirely unfamiliar with include recording the Sunday charts on a tape recorder and having to stop every time the DJ spoke (68 percent), having to do PE in your knickers if you forgot your kit (46 percent) and worrying that a parent was eavesdropping your call on a second landline (35 percent).

Having only four TV channels emerged as the biggest gripe about being a youngster back in the day (76 percent), with having to venture out to a video shop to rent a movie (72 percent) second on the list of complaints.

Having to take at least three rolls of film for your camera on holiday (57 percent) emerged among the list of reasons being a teen in the 80s and 90s was harder – as did fiddling with the aerial on your telly to get a better signal (65 percent), having to wait a full week for the next episode of your favourite show (61 percent) and writing to a pen pal and having to wait weeks for a response (51 percent).

Nearly half said being a teen now is easier than when they were young – with 58 percent saying technology has given kids today an easier ride.

A further 55 percent claimed they often wonder how they managed to survive their own youth without the internet or a mobile phone.