Newell-Fonda High School
Newell, Iowa
Teacher: Connie Doonan

 

 

Teenagers Earning the Respect of Their Elders

By Pat Wolff

12th Grade

 

 

Much has changed in this world. I find more adults complaining to teenagers how they never in their day behaved the way we do.  All too often, I have heard how my parents had it rough, rougher than teenagers of today.  In today’s world there are many distractions that can affect a teenager’s judgment.  Whether it’s sex, drugs, or alcohol, teenagers are faced with difficult decisions everyday.  A factor that can affect the decisions a teenager makes is his/her peers.  A person’s friends have a greater influence on them than their parents.  The teenager listens to his/her parents, but they are not there by his/her side every minute of the day to help them make the right choice.  Parents must instill values into their kid’s head at a young age.  Teach them what is right and what is wrong.  Becoming the child’s friend as well as being a parent is important.

           

Schools today need to teach students not just what’s in the text books but what life is really like after graduating from high school and college.  Not all families are home all the time to share quality time with each other.  Therefore, schools must help fill in the gap.  Kids are expected to get up every morning, go to school, learn whatever the teacher teaches them, and participate in extracurricular activities.  There just isn’t enough time in the day for families to find time in the day to talk.

             

A rite of passage from adolescent to adult today is extremely uncommon.  We hear about how kids in the past have had to prove themselves worthy to be an adult.  But how does living in a forest by yourself prove that you are capable of being an adult?  That just proves to the kid that they can survive a couple days on their own without getting killed by a wild animal.  The grandparents of children today had to begin work at a very young age.  Either they went to school or stayed home and helped take care of the family.  Yes, times have changed since those days and there are very few kids that stay home and take care of the family. I’m not saying there isn’t anybody at all, I’m sure there are some that do, just not as many.

           

Anyone entering the military is required to complete Basic Training.  Each branch has a different style for training each individual.  Each one has it’s own difficulty as well.  Requiring everybody that graduates out of high school to complete some sort of basic training to prove themselves worthy of adulthood is a good idea, but out of the question.  I don’t think that there could be any kind of passage that a teenager should have to pass before becoming an adult.  I think that parents and schools should teach kids what it takes to become an adult.

           

Stories told by parents to their kids are extremely valuable.  We need to know how our parents grew up so we have something to learn by.  How did our parents grow up to be considered adults?  I’m sure that they too had their problems as teenagers.  It seems that most adults have forgotten what it’s like to be a teenager.  They sometimes don’t take time to stop and see what is a really going on in their kid’s life.  The problems that face today’s kids can go undetected to the eye of an adult.  They just don’t want to believe that there is a problem with drugs and alcohol and if they do they don’t believe that it will ever happen to their kid.  Until the problem is recognized by adults the problem will continue.  If adults want teenagers to act responsibly then they need to give us the respect we deserve.  Adults want so much out of teenagers but are unwilling to help.  Don’t expect any changes without any help from the people that we look up to.  Friends come and go, but family is supposed to be there for us at all times.

           

It’s hard to sit here and think of some sort of rite of passage that us teenagers should have to go through to become adults.  Once we enter high school, everything seems to change.  Your attitude towards everything changes along with it.  All of a sudden we are given more responsibility an more is expected out of us.  The thought of graduating starts entering our minds and before you know it; graduation is tomorrow.  Adults need to step in and help out with the teenagers of today.  Help teach us good morals and values to teach our kids.  We are the future, but you are responsible for us.

 

Answers for required reading

 

            1.  Be All You Can Be

 

            2.  Much has changed since the 1920’s but the issues are still issues of today.

 

            3.  I agree, people shape their culture to their way of life and everybody is different resulting in many different cultures.

 

            4.  Greater knowledge and control over the civilizing process.

 

5.  I think that we want adults to recognize us and respect our individuality, parents seem to want to run their kids lives even after they are capable of making their own decisions.

 

            6.  Even though we live in a small town, drugs and alcohol are still being experimented with by students.  We are not all that innocent.  Alcohol is                        consumed more than an adult might think.

 

            7.  I don’t think there is a solution.  You can’t make someone stop stereotyping another person.

 

            8.  I think students get tired of school because it’s so boring.  It’s the teacher’s job to make learning interesting, that’s their job.

 

9.  Yes, school teaches you nothing about the real world.  It doesn’t prepare you for the diverse people you will encounter.  The only thing it teaches you is what’s in the text book.  More hands on experience would help.

 

10.  I agree that teenagers would like to be respected more by adults.  Adults seem to ignore the problems facing teenagers today and wonder why we act the way we do.  We are just looking for a place to fit in. Attention is everything. We’ll do anything to be recognized.