<p>
</p>
<p>I went out of state for college at 17 and my parents never restricted me in terms of distance or other activities so long as I didn’t lose my near-full ride scholarship and didn’t ask them for financial assistance as they had none to give. My younger under-17 classmates dormed and otherwise studied at my LAC no differently than the 18-22 year old set. </p>
<p>My parents would find placing such restrictions on people who are young adults to be a bit too coddling, especially my father considering he had to live on his own wits from the age of 12 and remembered how young men from the age of 18 were expected to serve 2 years in the army. As a result, the idea of them restricting me on which colleges to attend or moreso, where to go on spring break would never enter their minds. As far as they were concerned, once I earned my place into college, I earned the right to be treated as an adult…and expected to behave accordingly.</p>
<p>Then again, each child is different and only the OP knows the son the best. I just wanted to point out that not all 18 year olds…or even 13-17 year olds are incapable of living as mature independent young adults. I’ve met too many examples of such to feel otherwise.</p>