'It's time to sleep, eat - and sleep a bit more'

Teenager Matt Scott urges parents to stop nagging.

This is my daily holiday schedule: wake up at 1pm, fry bacon and eggs, shower, play on my decks for an hour or so, go to the park to play football or skateboard, relax, play Medal of Honour, maybe go to a record shop, eat, wait until dark comes, go out to a club or to a mate's house, go to sleep at around 2 or 3am.

Not a lot to it, but it keeps me happy. The less organised your day is, the less stressed you are. I know it may not sound as if stress is a problem for me, but I've had GCSEs, followed by AS levels, and to be followed by A2s next year, so I think I need a break. Being on holiday means waiting for something to happen, but you don't mind if nothing does.

It is different when you are younger. When I was seven and eight, living in New York, the long, steamy hot summers were the best time of year. And organised day camp was the way to go. All the local kids went, dressed in blue T-shirts and swimming shorts: teenage camp counsellors taught us how to make lanyards, as well as taking us on trips to the pool, zoo, cinema, baseball and football matches. Now my American friend Greg, after years of doing sailing camp every summer, is doing a summer course in global politics at Colombia university - that kind of thing is unheard of among my friends here. Another friend, George, is earning hundreds of dollars caddying on a Westchester golf course - more fun than looking for a job on Holloway Road in the rain.

Back in England, when I was nine and 10, my parents signed me up for Arsenal football school as well as one week in a residential camp on the Isle of Wight where we did quadbiking and abseiling and smoked cigarettes. Looking back, I realise that those weeks spent in sports complexes and gymnasiums being shouted at by strange bald men were worthwhile, improving my sports and social skills for life.

Things change when you become a teenager. That same summer holiday feeling never comes back after you are about 15. No more football schools and no need for parents to arrange supervision - just a need for them to start nagging. Although it is now time to be responsible and organise your own day, it is also time to sleep, eat - and sleep a bit more. Younger kids need to burn more energy and do activities; once you're a bit older, you just can't be bothered. This is where new problems arise: parents insisting on you going to art galleries and plays for schoolwork and research which you don't think you need to do.

When someone tries to organise a day for me, I feel patronised and immediately don't want to do it. I do art A-level, so I will go to an exhibition I want to see, not one that my mum thinks will be the most appropriate. She wants me to go to see Lucian Freud; I want to see a street art exhibition.

On the other hand, one thing I have learned over the years is that going to a play or a museum with your mum or granny may seem like the worse idea in the world, but once you get there, it is never as bad or as long as you thought it would be.