I'm sure everyone here has had to deal with it, prejudice against teens simply for being a teen. Many people insist teens can't be trusted, and are often irresponsible. My mother is the same way. But she trusts me completely and says i am being more responsible. I know there are a few teens that do bad things, but there are lots of adults who do bad things too. What can we do to stop this?? At my church last week I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said this:You will not silence my message, you will not mock my God, you will stop killing my generation. Later People. Maybe someday adults will learn, we are their future, without us they are nothing.

Drakai Prince

drakai, what part of the country are you from? i remember when i was a young teen (8th grade, freshman and so on) young people knew there place so to speak. now im not saying this in a bad way but hardly any kids back talked adults and thought they were the most important person in the world. it just seems like now-a-days kids have no respect what so ever for, i guess you could say, their elders. im in the military and have gone to many highschools to talk to people about the military and they scoff at me and talk sh*t. and truthfully its not really all the teens fault, its more of the parents cause god forbid you actually discipline your child. people are so quick to yell abuse and call CPS. teens get away with whatever they want to in todays society.

I think that sex ed should be taught. When I was ten years old, I started learning about sex. We had a subject in my school called Family Life. It taught us abouse life and how to live it moraly. Obviously, as the years progressed, the more detail they put in the book. They had two ladys come in and teach the girls about what will be happening to their bodys and the boys what will be happening to their's. That was my first ever form of sexual education I ever got. I think when kids stop being kids and start becoming teenagers, that's when you really need to start talking about it. It's not an embarressing thing, it's a way of life. As for me, I would want my future kids hear about sex from me or a school then what they hear on the streets, television/movie, songs, or from their friends who are as unexperienced as they are. Getting an education on sex is important because you don't want them to end up pregnant or with a disease. You have to tell them it is best to stay abstinent, but if they are going to be sexually active, to wear a condom or take birth control. My mother was the one to inform me about sex, she told me that in her generation, it wasn't "proper" to talk about those kinds of things and the day her mother talked to her about it was the day before my mom's wedding. I don't think that that's a good thing because by then, you probably already know all about sex. You should let children know what it is as soon as they start asking, don't deny them. Just by how provocative the media is now, just imagine it ten years from now when the next generation comes along. Each generation is going to have to learn about sex earlier and earlier.

at my school theres those stupid cliques. EVERYONE seems to belong somewhere but me. I dont do what they want me to to belong to there clique. I dont dress punk, i dont skateboard, im not a huge jock (im on the track team and play softball), Im not a drama (im in the plays but not the classes)Im definatly not a cheerleader (im a majorette), and i dont read enough to be with what my friends call "the geeks" I belong no where. I personally like belonging no where. The way i look at it is Ill be out of here in 4 years but i know its not going to stop unless Teens stop these cliques. Girls everyday over look people just because they dont wear the same clothes as them, or dont go to the same parties as them. Its just sickening. Now from trying to hard to be a part of a clique, trying to fit in, ive learned those friends in the clique arent exactly your true friends. Ive been backstabbed by those people. Ive learned that when i talk to EVERYONE i learn more not only about people but myself. Ive met my best friends just by talking to them in one class. Just follow your heart and do what you think is right.

sometime one must keep in mind that when a adult look "down" upon you it is not because of contempt, it is because they have once been in your shoes. "they never give me credit", "i'm always judged", "I can prove them wrong" are many of the things that ran through their minds at your age. that type of pressure is a treasured thing, because with that anticipation and eagerness it makes you more ready to accomplish your task. it all apart of growing up, going up against the odds. now sometimes adults can be too overbearing, that too is a growing factor, being able to logically solve a problem without becoming a problem.

Lately it seems as if teens are judged solely by how they dress and what kind of music they listen to. It's been going on for years and no one seems to really have done anything about it. I mean just because I like to dye my hair different colors and wear black clothing doesn't make me a criminal does it? For some reason it seems like it does. If I dont want to wear Ambercrombie and Fitch or Gap there must be something wrong with me, thats the response I seem to get. But why the heck would you want to try to be like everyone else? If you want to be happy you just have to be yourself. And if adults dont like it then thats their problem. People should be judged by their personality and who they are rather than by what they wear. It's whats on the inside that counts, not the outside. I find it rediculious that people gawk and stare at teens today. We've done nothing wrong so what are you staring at?

Listen this is hard to except, but it is something I have learned the hard way and most of you will also learn. Yes there are many great young people who do many great things, very smart things, and there are bad young people. I have done a many things in my life including protesting various things in this world. I always thought I was doing good, the right thing and speaking out to help people. Once I was out of school I learned even more, and in many cases how stupid I really was. My heart was in the right place, but the ones who "taught" me had other agendas. The truth is our young minds are easy to persuade, on the surface alot of things sound like the right thing and many of us lack the dilligence to persue further truth. Yes young people are the future, and I think more people then you realize understand this fact. THere are many people out there who want to sway your opinion and your beliefs. Wether they be Cristians, Pagans, Repulicans, Anti-War Protestors....if you notice the majority of people who are in protests are young people. Young people are the future and many people are waiting to make you their pawns...please follow through on everything you do, make sure what you are doing really is the right thing....no matter how good an ideal is, it's only as good as the people involved.

Well, aside from the anti-gay comments in her post I have to agree with Grace. If people would stop being so stupid in our generation, maybe adults would trust us. The fact is, while adults have looked down somewhat on younger people, they have never looked down so much on them as they do now. We don't have brains, we don't have morals, and we don't have a future if we keep this up. Somehow, this generation has managed to be one of the most misinformed ones ever during a literal information age. Its almost like some people try to screw up in front of adults.

Forgot one other thing,
Saved by Grace, your comments on follow the crowd is one of the most asinine statements. Of course this generation follows the crowd, every generation to a certain extent does, how do you think society is formed? Society is formed by common practices and ways of life hence follow the crowd.

Its nothing really new and it will go on forever. Every older generation says, “oh this generation is going down the tubes" and how many times does life seem to go on when they reached adult hood. Lets face it folks older generations are not going to accept the younger very easily because generally they tend to be different, and as you grow older you tend to be less likely to try new things. As for saved by grace save your fake impressions of the world please, if you really believe that premarital sex is something that just recently came to be in larger numbers, your fooling yourself. The simple fact is that people have been having premarital sex forever; it’s just that sex has been some what of a taboo to talk about, but of course you can believe in your fake idealism.
Also I have a tendency to understand where the adults perspective is coming from, seeing as I'm about to leave my teens in about 4 months. I'm sure you've all heard this line" you'll understand when you get older" but it’s really the truth. Seeing as many of you are in the age range of 14-15, you can't really understand this, but your ideas and opinions will change a lot when you grow, trust me on this one. Just think about all the songs that say “I wish I knew what I know now, when I was younger.”

I don't blame adults for hating teenagers, i hate them too, and i am one. Our generation is a bunch of pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, pro-premarital sex, athiest, gossipy, follow-the-crowd people. I am absolutely ashamed to be considered a part of this generation, because they are all a bunch of non-moral people.

How can you expect to have prejudice against teens stop when each and every teen out there seems to make themselves a walking, talking, cliche, simply to feel more secure?

Did you accidently forget to notice that your damn CAPS LOCK was on?

DO ANY OF U GET TIRED OF BEIN CALLED A KID OR A BABY? OMG I HATE IT JUST B/C WE'RE NOT AS OLD AS THEM DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE'RE LITTLE KIDS. IT SEEMS LIKE IF U R A TEENAGER THAT U CAN'T FALL IN LOVE AND IF U DO THEN IT'S ONLY PUPPY LOVE. IT'S LIKE WE DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HAPPY OR HAVE A LIFE. UNLESS WE'RE ODLER THAN 18 THEN WE'RE STUPID LITTLE KIDS WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOIN AND WE DON'T HAVE A MIND OF OUR OWN. IT'S SO ANNOYIN THAT PPL THINK THAT TEENAGERS R STUPID AND DON'T HAVE A MIND TO THINK WITH I HATE ADULTS SOMETIMES ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY CALL TEENAGERS KIDS, DO ANY OF U ALL FEEL THE SAME WAY I DO, DO U FEEL LIKE ADULTS JUST THINK THAT WE'RE JUST HERE TO ACT IMMATURE AND NOT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING. I MEAN THEY ALL WERE TEENAGERS ONCE U WOULD THINK THAT THEY JUST SKIPPED THAT FASE IN LIFE. GRRRRR DOES ANYBODY FEEL LIKE ME???? BY THA WAY I'M 16!
~!*Brittany D. L.*!~

[This message was edited by YNLissa on March 15, 2003 at 10:27 PM.]

i noticed that someone said something about being punk is being original.by being any style you are copying off of what someone else sets as a style, so basiclly no styles are original. especially something that stands out alot, like punk or prep, someone started it and people followed. so its not really that original. not that i'm against punks or anything, three of my friends (one of them a close friend) are punk, some more than the others. even they agree its not an original style.

I think that schools should offer both classes and that they students should choose which class they would like to take. I do think it is wrong to teach Abstinence-Only courses because the courses only tell you "scare-tactics", they do not tell you the truth. I also think that the Abstenence-Plus classes should be allowed to give out condoms to the students in this class. Just because our "precious" President is promoting this it is totally wrongscooby_liz@bolt.com

You people are all crazy! Listen to yourselves! You're all like, "Be nonconformists! Us punks are all nonconformists!" Hello! By placing yourselves into a clique you are taking away the freedom you profess. it's ridiculous.

Lots of love,
Lynne

Why are parents assuming we will do "everything" other teens do? Everyone's different. Everyone doesn't do the same thing.

I think that th majority of parents don't trust teens because of mistakes that other teens in general make. Would it be fare to me if I could not drive the family car because the guy down the street got into an accident with his family's car? no it isn't because I'm not that guy. Parents should not be prejudiced against teens because of other teens. What if it was reversed on parents?

You guys are right, most adults fear what they dont understand. They view the whole when only the select make mistakes. It is a growing trend and it shows no signs of slowing. There are a few things you can do as well to combat this growning problem and that is act mature. Most adults are suprised by people who are under the age of 20 help out and do things with out expecting any kind of award or reward. They tend to have a different view of the whole when they view the select doing good and making positive change. That is another step, no matter what strive for change and remember when you become adults not to judge the whole and remember the select and we can change the world one person at a time.