There is one thing on this planet that all people over the age
of 25 hate. It’s not taxes, it’s not
paying rent…it’s something far more annoying, less useful and there is no
getting rid of this particular plague. Teenagers. The so-called “future” of human society, every
generation getting progressively worse until are eventually the death of us
all. The end of the human race will not
be in a US-Russian fueled nuclear war or an extinction level asteroid…it will
be teenagers.
There was a time when teenagers were considered adults and
were getting married and having children at age 13, they were fully active
members of society and had already achieved a good chunk of their life expectancy. Now they are still in school, still living at
home, and only the really stupid ones are having children. While I am for them still being in school and
still living at home during their teenage years, I am not against pushing back
to the times when they were expected to contribute more to society that shrill
laughter in inappropriate places and eye rolling at every word spoken to them.
Get a group of teenagers together and show them pictures of
Vladimir Putin, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Nikola Tesla, and Margaret Thatcher and
see how many of them they recognize and know about. Show them pictures of Justin Bieber, the
man-children from One Direction and the cast of Glee and I bet you they won’t
miss a single one. When I was a teenager
(let’s not discuss how long ago this may have been), I would also have been
able to recognize all of the pop stars and current celebrities, but I can
confidently say I would have gotten 3 out of the 4 others who are not quite so ‘pop-culture’,
as would many people I went to school with.
There is a level of blame to be placed on the schools as well, I was
fortunate enough that I went to a pretty good school; I didn’t know it at the
time, but when I compare it to other people who went to other schools in other
cities and areas, it did me well. We
were taught things such as world issues and why they were important and how to
question things that we read and they actively wanted us to take a personal
interest in the issues of the day. Ask a
teenager today who David Cameron is, how many would know? Why is Russia against US action in
Syria? Do you know where Syria is on a
map?? Do you know how to use a
non-google map???
School seems wasted on so many students in that they do not
appreciate the education while they are getting it. They see school as an inconvenience and an
annoyance that just keeps them from hanging out with their friends. Yes, social lives are important, but they
will never trump a good education, believe me, I regret skipping as much as I
did during those years. The importance
that teenagers put on their social lives is completely disproportionate, and if
you want proof how unimportant a teenager’s social life is, consider how many
people you hung out with then are still in your life now. How many great biographies have you read that
detail the social importance of their high school years (unless they were bad
bullying experiences that scarred them)?
None, because they don’t really matter…in the grand scheme of life, a
teenager’s social life is as important as a benign mole on your back that you
remember every 6 months when you see the doctor but pay no attention to.
I would also like to point out to teenagers, that when
adults say that you look stupid doing things like smoking, drinking and acting
like baboons, they are not jealous of your youth, they are not saying that you
are cool by rebelling against what adults do…they/we really do mean that you
look completely and utterly stupid. I
see groups of teenagers on the subway every day coming home from their days at
school, and they are always in obnoxiously loud groups giggling, shouting,
yelling etc. even though they are standing 4 inches apart. I can always see them each looking around the
subway car to see if people are looking at them..they adjust their stance so
they look cooler, they don’t hold a handrail because they are such pros that
they ‘got this’ and they talk about whatever they think will make them sound
cool to these perfect strangers who will likely never see them again. As one of those strangers I will tell you what
goes through the head of all of the people you are trying to impress…the
thought is not ‘wow, they must be the cool kids, I wish I was still young’…it
is ‘good god, shut up already and grow up, you’re so disruptive to everyone
around you…now what do I make for dinner?’
A quick note to teens as well…this one just burns my butter…every
time you use the words ‘that’s not fair’, someone over the age of 30 gets to
smack you with their bank statement…because life is not fair princess. If you think teachers are mean and unfair,
wait until you get a boss you don’t like.
You think homework sucks? Yes,
reading and writing must be such a job while you sit in a house someone else
paid for, eating the food they’ve provided you in the clothing you didn’t have
to work for. If it were up to me,
Iphones would be banned for anyone under the age of 18, because you should have
to learn how to learn before you’re allowed to have a device that tells you everything.
Don’t get me started on teenagers’ music…because we all know
how bad it is..but in all fairness, all generations have had some really bad
teenage music in their era.
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