Many a time have I commented as to how I would hate to be a teenager in today’s world.

How I could not bear to be scrutinized on social media or live up to ridiculous image ideals peddled online, on TV and in magazines, and how I would struggle to keep up with my peers.

Yet it seems that my views are not shared with the majority. A survey among parents who were teenagers between 20 and 30 years ago believe that being a teen today is a breeze compared to what they had to endure.

Having only four TV channels, 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.

According to the study by comparison website Broadband Choices, 62 percent of parents believe teen life today is far better 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 irritations which parents believe today’s teens do not suffer include recording the Sunday charts on a tape recorder and having to stop every time the DJ spoke, having to do PE in your knickers if you forgot your kit and worrying that a parent was eavesdropping your phone call on a second landline.

I was a teenager 40 years ago and reckon those minor irritations are nothing compared with teen life today where there is so much choice and so many means of communication it can drive you mad.

Even if, decades ago, we had to fiddle with the TV aerial - and sometimes bang our hands hard on the top of the set to get it working - at least we were not blinded by hundreds of channels, cable, satellite, and so on, most screening complete rubbish.

What’s wrong with writing essays? In many ways it demands more skill; you don’t have the luxury of instant erasing, rewriting and editing. Sadly the art of handwriting is being threatened by the digital revolution. Anne Trubek, author of ‘The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting,’ believes that handwriting represents ‘something individual and unique about a person’. That’s so true. A handwritten letter means so much more than a rattled-off email.

As for recording the chart show, I remember that as a fun thing to do on a Sunday evening. We all became dab hands at taping only the tracks we wanted. At least we didn’t spend every night doing the same thing for hours on end like today’s teens - tap, tap, tapping away on their mobile phones.

I acknowledge that if you’re looking for privacy, telephone landlines are not ideal, but your life was not dominated by them. Today’s teenagers are obsessed about being available and feel the need to contact their friends countless times each day. It’s the same with social media, checking and posting. I would not want this kind of pressure, with not a scrap of down time.

It is telling that 66 per cent of parents interviewed said they would not swap places with their own children and a further 85 percent reckon they had more freedom as a teen in the 1980s and 90s.

I do, however, agree to one observation - that having to take rolls of film on holiday and load them into your camera was a massive pain. I once loaded mine incorrectly, losing 36 shots of an Italian holiday.

And for the record, despite growing up in the dark ages, I NEVER did PE in my knickers.