You know what I just hate? I hate being disrespected by adults just for being a teenager. Who do they think they are to treat me like a loser? They don’t know me. The problem is that everyone, including teenagers, is tricked into thinking that all teenagers are disrespectful, rude, and troublesome. But that’s just not the case. Oh don’t get me wrong, I know there are bad apples out there, but not all of us are rotten. Adults take one look at most of us and think we’re just disrespectful-good-for-nothing-kids. Don’t agree with me? Here’s one of my personal experiences. I was at a carnival a few years ago with my cousin and some of her friends. We decided to go in the fun house. You know, with the window maze, funny mirrors, and slides. When we went to go inside, the carnie stopped us and said he didn’t want any “funny business” or “messing around” in there. Now, do you think that if we had been little kids he would have said that? No. He was assuming that just because we’re teenagers then we’re going to cause trouble.

Not only is it rude for adults to treat us this way, but it’s not good for us. It doesn’t do us any good when everyone thinks we’re just a bunch of dumb kids who don’t have a care in the world. In being teenagers, we will want to live up to those accusations. You think we’re disrespectful, we’ll be disrespectful. You think we all to get in trouble, oh, we will give you trouble. Kids don’t get a feeling of self-worth when the adults in their lives are expecting them to fail.

I bet our styles have a big role in the way adults treat us. They don’t like the fact that we dare to be different. Well, too bad. I mean, I know there are kids who think that their clothes and hair mean they can get away with anything, but there are also adults who think that. Just remember the old cliché “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Adults also don’t think about what it was like when they were teenagers. And in talking with some adults, I have found that most, if not all generations have gone through what we are going through now. They don’t think about that before they discriminate against us. Unless of course they are getting revenge on us for how they were treated. But I doubt that’s the case with most of them.

So what exactly should we do about this? Prove that you are respectable and that you don’t just go around looking for trouble. Separate yourself from those who do get in trouble. This shows that you don’t admire them and that you care more about things like school or sports. For those of you who are disrespectful and troublesome, you are just causing grief and trouble for the rest of us. For the adults who treat us this way, give us the benefit of the doubt.