Save Ferris

USA Today has seriously underestimated Ferris Bueller, if you ask me, in this story from Friday's edition.

The article does make a good point, though, for most teenagers: Technology has dramatically changed the high-school and young-adult experience during the last five to ten years. Many cities have passed daytime curfews for school-age children, graduated drivers licenses now prevent many teens from leisure driving with buddies, and cellphones with GPS devices mean that parents now can track where their children are throughout the day.

There are a lot of other new challenges for students, too, if they're looking to wreak a little mayhem. For a pro like Ferris, though, I have to think that he'd still find a way to get around them. How about a fake ID and passing his cell phone to a friend who's still at school? He could easily have his calls forwarded to another number, and maybe he would borrow a cell phone from an older friend for the day.

On the whole, I think these restrictions are probably a good thing, although I'm sure I wouldn't have been happy about them as a high schooler. I think it's still important to balance between trust and accountability, and it sounds like that's becoming an increasingly difficult thing to do.