By 17 I was on my own and joining the military. My daughter is 25 and just got her first real job out of college. By her age I had a 6 year old child (her). I'm not saying I took the right path (I didn't) but the level of maturity I had at her age was vastly different. Her peers are all similar, and when I was young many of mine were similar to me. I do thing generationally / culturally there's a difference.