Do you know what bothers me? No, I wouldn't expect that you do. What bothers me is the instant assumption that teenagers are sheltered, and have no problems other than cleaning up our rooms, or feeding the cat (or in my case, two cats. And if you know me, that is a feat in itself because I have a huge 18 pound himalayan who would eat a horse if you told him he could.). I hate to burst the bubble that adults live in, but this is probably one of THE most ludicrous statements that I have ever heard.

I find the society that we live in to be extremely hypocritical and contradictory. According to, well, lets see now, ALMOST EVERY WORKING ADULT IN THE COUNTRY, educating the future is the number one priority for parents, because, well, we ARE the future. School is becoming more of a home than home is. Spending 7 hours per day (35 hours a week) at school, our futures are being mapped out more thouroughly than the first globe created. Information is being shoved down our throats at higher speeds than a rocket taking off for the moon. Sorry, that was a long rant, but the point that I'm trying to make here is that adults expect a child's life to be carefree (ex: have any kids out there once have this happen to them? Ask what they can do when a parent is doing something and they simply reply, ' No honey, you're job is to have fun and be a child and enjoy it while you can.' Thought so.) and yet they expect us to live through 16 years of school.

Cut to when I'm going into 8th grade. At my school, 8th grade is the last year of my middle school. After this, I'm off to high school. 8th grade means a lot of different things to different people. To me, 8th grade will probably be the most eventful school year of my life, not only academically, but socially as well.

I like to think of myself as a well-rounded individual. But unlike any other task, you cannot accomplish anything without a little but of hard work.

Personally, I get offended if anyone suggests that I don't work as hard as an adult, or that I don't have any important worries. Let me be quick to bash that statement. Let me inform the pubic that teens everywhere have as much or more stress than adults.

Disagree if you want to.
Problems that teens encounter most likely don't have clear-cut solutions.


Issue 1: Bullying. You may say, tell a teacher, but do you think that a teacher will really stop the problem? Kids will do and say what they want to. Bullying is cruel, can lower self esteem, and do permanent damage to someone's outlook on life. Not only are there not clear solutions, but how do you expect someone to deal with something by themselves when their brain isn't even fully developed? Right.
How can someone say that this isn't stressful?
Issue 2: School-related stress At my school, in 8th grade we are forced to choose a major for high school. A MAJOR. In the 8th grade. Im sorry, but half of the 8th graders don't know what the difference is between undergrad and grad school. DO you really think that they know what they want to do with the rest of their lives by age 13 or 14? Not to mention the ongoing struggle between the balance of extra-curriculars, academics, an actual social life, and things that they actually enjoy doing-not things their forced to do because it will help them in the future or look good.

If that isn't stress enough, I don't really know what is.

I have a theory.
Maybe parents say that our problems are weaker or aren't big enough to undermine their child's problems so that they (and their problems) seem more important.


Maybe, just maybe.
To me, problems are relative. In an adult's world, paying the bills are one of the biggest problems faced. To a teen, breaking up with a boyfriend of 5 years is the biggest issue in THEIR world. Problems are all relative to age. Obviously teens don't have to worry about the water bill, because we're not to that point in our lives yet.
Let me share an opinion.
The age of a person should not determine the quality of their work.
Period.