In simple terms: the meaning of keys
Keys are meaningless when a person is inside a house with closed doors. Only when the person originally in the house has to leave do the keys have some meaning.
Increase in sense of security
For most, if not all, people, being behind closed doors and surrounded by four solid walls increases their sense of security. The contentious aspect is where the person originally in the house can draw their sense of security when they must leave. It's the best time for the keys to come in handy. When a person leaves home, he or she keeps their keys in their hands or pockets. These minute items make them feel secure in the sense that what they left in their premises is secure from unwanted access through means such as theft and burglary.
Different types of keys
On the same note, there are different types of keys. There are car keys and house keys. People often feel secure leaving their cars in strange and unfamiliar locations. The only thing that troubles them is if the vehicle is correctly parked. Also, they counter-check to ensure that the car is locked. The latter ensures that the vehicle is not accessible to those who are not authorized to do so. They walk away engrossed in the safe thought that their cars are safe wherever they are. The only item that does make them feel secure is their car keys. However, apart from being promissory to security, keys also have social impacts on their owners.
Feeling of Independence
Taking a keen look into the lifestyles that most youths have, some of them live in their apartments while others still live with their parents. It is apparent that those living under the same roof with their parents feel insecure at some point in time since they cannot do some of the things they would love to do. It may be due to the rulings of the parents or from the respect that they have for them. Also, the parents always feel that their children are good, so the kids wouldn’t think of participating in activities that dent their images to their parents. Most of these children feel that they are missing out on a lot. However, those living in their apartments free to do whatever they want in them. This is a form of independence that they feel. The feeling only becomes elevated when these youths hold their keys after locking their houses. This also applies to those whose parents have left, and they are left in charge of the house.
Stability
It would be a total lie to say that a youth living in an apartment in which the rent and other bills are responsibilities of the parent is financially stable. The parents may feel that it is wise for their child to have an apartment of their own so that they would not interfere with his/her privacy. This is particularly prone to homes where domestic violence is an issue. Parents hate it when their children see them arguing most of the time since it forces them to pick sides. This, in turn, breaks the family bond since the child might only decide to talk to the parent that they have chosen and the one they feel is always good to them. On the contrary, having the keys to their apartments or cars make them assume a confident feeling of stability in life. The thought helps them get over the issues they may be having in their lives.
Sense of Identity
When a person has the keys to their cars and houses, they identify themselves with those who have the same. The feeling of identity inspires positivity in almost every kind of way. When I talk about identity, I have a refugee who has never been in her home and had the feeling that there is always a roof over his/her head when they sleep. Also, I'm envisioning the people who have to walk to their places of work and back to their apartments since they do not have car keys. This is because they do not have any cars in their names. Those with cars always have their car keys so they can easily identify themselves with those having cars if at all statistics were to be taken.
Trust
In the contemporary society, people do date and go out for some time in what they call relationships. In the course of the relationship, there may be times when the girl has to spend time in the guy's apartment. However, in the morning, the guy has to report to work, and since they cannot tell the girl to leave, they give them the spare keys to the apartment. The girl may use the key when locking the house as they will be taking their leave. The action of giving the keys to the girl shows that the guy has trust in her. This is because he cannot just give the keys to any other girl out on the streets. In this way, the keys are a symbol of trust.
Accessibility
Considering a scenario where people misplace the keys to their cars or apartments. They will not be in the position to access either of the two. The person would try so hard to remember where they had left the keys. This would involve making calls to all the friends they had spent the day hanging around. The crazy feeling of not being in the position to access their cars or apartments troubles them. In this context, the keys are a sign of accessibility.
Moral Decay
The key may have all the positive perceptions and feelings that most people draw from them, but everything has both advantages and disadvantages. A case scenario is a child who is always under the constant care of their parents and now they own their apartments. Since they had the prior thought that they were missing out on a lot of fun, they would exploit the opportunity to compensate for what they lost. When it gets to this point, you clearly know that the child is most likely to have fun beyond a limit. In the long run, they end up messing and doing things they wouldn't have done if they were in their parents' apartment.
A slight taste of freedom to a child who is always under strict care may be their undoing. They will try drinking and smoking all that they never have. They console themselves with the thought that they will be heading back to their houses where their parents are not. This is because of the happy feeling of having the keys to their apartments. Conclusively, keys have both positive and negative impacts on the people having them. The effects the keys pose are entirely up to the owner.
