McCallion
Quest

The Judgement of Teens in Today’s Society- Is it fair?

 By Sacha Ahmed, Editor

 Time has brought much change. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago, people of all ages were encouraged to do the right thing. It’s not like that anymore. It seems as if nobody cares for anyone but themselves, and as teens or young adults, we are forever seeking to gain  attention from the world around us. Without it, it seems the minds of all teens seem to travel elsewhere and if pushed, the mind starts to rebel against any positive thoughts and views. Some teens don’t release these thoughts at all, but some express their anger through action, which explains why society itself has a negative view on most teens in today’s world. 

However, considering the differences in humanity itself, most adults don’t realize that there are different types of teenagers too. We’re not all looters, cheaters, thieves, or liars. We’re human beings and we would like to be treated as so. Society has painted such a view on us it seems we have to climb up the ladder to reach a certain standard whereas adults climb down (if they don’t succeed). When we witness first hand the differences between how we are treated, compared to adults, it ticks us off. It’s not fair. Why should those of us who work hard to be gracious and nice be considered along with the rest of the ‘bad teens’ as being bad? Why is it that we’re treated like babies and yet at the same time, we’re expected to act maturely? ‘Grown ups’ call themselves logical, but where’s the logic? We are not all the same; there are differences between us just as there are differences between adults. There are teens out there who have earned the right to be respected by all, but sadly, because of the stereotypical views of those in the adult world, they still don’t get it. 

Another thing society misinterprets or just forgets is that we teens are only starting to experience what life is all about. It can be just as hard on us as  it was for adults when they were young, if not harder. It’s a new experience being able to understand things in a more logical manner and being faced with the assortment of problems we face in our day to day life. Step by step, year by year, we too will join the crowd known as “adults”… 

We wish not to be stereotyped so I, for one,  do not stereotype adults. Some adults can be fair. Those are the ones who truly understand us. Some do pay attention to us and strive to help us meet higher standards. Those are the people who most teenagers are thankful for; who we wouldn’t be able to survive without in this day and age. These are the people who are our voice and who advocate for us at “Adult Only” meetings, in the government, in day to day life and in school activities etc. They are our connections to the world surrounding us, the world we are temporarily shut out of, the world we will some day have to join and the one we will be  expected to cope with. Some teens choose not to realize that there is some help out there for us, but the ones who do are truly grateful. 

All teens are judged by the few who decide to express their feelings through action in society today. What we need is attention and without it some get into mischief. However, we teens need to seek ‘positive attention’. We should ask for it and demand it, but if we don’t get it right off, we shouldn’t search for it by acting out. These rebellious acts of some teens are making life difficult for the rest of us. We must always keep in our minds that fact that nowadays, adults don’t care about each other as much anymore. And if that is evident in the adult world, you can only imagine what they think of us. If this is not stopped then we could be heading towards a whole new level of discrimination. However, it is our job to make sure we don’t give them the chance to ‘label’ us anymore.