10 Things You Should Know About Teenagers

by: Mary Humphrey

Guest teen writer

1. We need time. Teenagers need time to think, even though we act like we know it all. When we do something stupid and you want to talk about it with us, we don't always know what to say. Before you blow up on us tell us what you want to say, then give us 20 minutes to think about it. Then come back and see what we have to say. We know we messed up, and we should get in trouble but our opinions are important too.

2. Our opinions are important. Back to what I said in number 1, we need you to listen to us. Even if we are wrong we want to be heard, we want to be somewhat treated as adults. Besides most of the time we just want to vent.

3. We don't always like to be alone. It may seem like we hate you or don't want to be around you but that's not true. We could be in our room for 8 hours straight, on the phone or computer but if you ask us to do something with you we probably will. We do like being alone and were all for it but occasionally we do get lonely. So just ask, the worst we can say is no, but it could be a yes!

4. Listen to us. We have problems too.. when we tell them to you we don't want you to tell us "oh I've been thru it, you'll live." We want you to just listen. You may have had the same problem as us but telling us we will live makes it worse. We don't always want your advice, we just want someone to listen to us. So, if your teen wants to talk just listen. If they want advice, they will ask.

5. Teens are passionate. We may seem lifeless sometimes but in reality we really aren't. That's why we can be really happy one minute and mad or sad the next. We are passionate about life, we love to live. A lot of teens are passionate about different things, I am very passionate about school. Not many teens will say that. I think the biggest passion is with a boy/girlfriend. We love hard and fall fast, and get our hearts broken but we learn from experiences.

6. We like challenges. The teenage brain is wired differently than the adult brain. We live for adventure, we do things that would scare you to do. Without even thinking about it. It's just part of being a teenager. I mean think back, remember when you were a teen and did stuff and now you wouldn't even think about doing that stuff.

7. We are VERY fickle. We change our minds about everything. One minute we will do this, and the next it's something else. I mean over the last month I've had about 30 different ideas of what I wanted to do in my future. We always keep our minds open, that's why we make last minute decisions.

8. We need sleep! Studies show that we need at least 8 to 10 hours to sleep a night. We usually get much less. That's why in the summer we can go to sleep at 10 and sleep until 1 in the afternoon. Then when we do that, that's why we can stay up until 2 in the morning. Most teenagers are night people but there are a few that aren't. I know I'm not, I go to bed at 9 and sleep until 7. And we really hate it when you wake us up!

9. Don't expect us to act like adults, if you treat us like a child. If your always nagging at us telling us that we should be like adults but you call us a child.. guess what we're going to act like. We don't like to be called children, because in our minds we're closer to being an adult. We know we aren't adults and we shouldn't be punished like an adult but we should be somewhat treated like one. One person I know that does is an 8th grade teacher I had. She didn't call us kids or middle schoolers, she called us almost freshmen. Its kind of like that, we are almost adults.

10. Just because you did something bad as a teenager doesn't mean we will. We are not the same person you were when you were a teen. If you don't want us to do something, tell us your experience and maybe we can relate. You never know unless you try.

If you have any questions or topics relating to teenagers you'd like for us to discuss please e-mail me at marylaurenmary@gmail.com or marylauren15@yahoo.com.

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