Authority at every turn
Who know better, do better
Hypocritical adults whose youth resembled mine
Yet it has been too much time
“Back in the old days” and “I never acted like this”
The phrases ring in my ears
I want to scream for them to hear
I'm sure you weren't so different
We are one in the same kind
But age has made you blind
To the fear in a teenager
When the entire world is asking
“What are you going to do”
And none of us have the slightest clue
What do we know?
We are only teenagers

Yesterday you told me I act immature
Yet today I'm supposed to find the next cure
We are criticized and made out to be
rebels, villains, hooligans, and fools
A bunch of kids just trying to be cool
A lost generation
Wasted on social media and video games
Eyes plastered to a screen
Technology is our only escape

Parents wishing they could do it over
Using teenagers as their do-over
Pushing them to succeed
Failure is something we don't need
The pressure brings kids to the edge
Drinking away stress of constant competition
Some are depressed, some go insane
Some get so high, they don't remember their name

There is an issue here
That no one wants to go near
To improve the youth
You must give them proof
That failure makes you stronger
And perfection is a lie
Sometimes a person needs a good cry
For the older generations
Cut us some slack
These are years
To which we can never go back
You worked in a field
We work in a class
Neither of us have sat on our a**

Not all effort needs to be physical
We are the age of minds
Teenagers with innovative thoughts
A gap between generations
That cannot be bridged

Teenagers do not have it easy
No matter what adults say
Put yourself in our shoes
for a single day
Think back and empathize
Look at us with different eyes
Then you will see
Expectations are drowning teens

But what do we know?
We are only teenagers