The Negative View of Youths...Scary Statistics and what we can do about it!

this is a very good topic! alot of the kids in my school do alot of stupid things for no reason. i think that part of it is they dont really have anything elce to do. if the schools made joining a club or team mandatory, the kids who get in trouble, get pregnant or drop out might be less likely to do so. if they know that there is something that they want to go to school for.if they really like their after school activity, skipping school would not look as "fun". they would have a motive to go to school! i think that all of these bad things would happen less and then today's teens would have a better future!

I think that young teenagers and kids are portrayed in a bad way. Yes, we do make stupid desicions but thats because we are young (hence adolescents). Our brains havent developed yet, and we are still learning from our mistakes. All these adults probably did the same things we do now. Stealing, hanging out with the wrong crowd, doing drugs, and experimenting with all sorts of things are what make us better people in the future, and we learn not to do these things agains. If adults just had a little patience with us it would make the world a better place! : )

World Peace ; )

Yea i think too... it's kind of like trying to get all of community to change their mind. and it would take a little while to try and get many ttens involved because even though many teens are willing to help the majority may not be. i think that if maybe we got teens to spread the word and trying to get teens to do things that maybe they normally wouldnt do we may get positive adult attention. the more positive attention that youth bring to themselves they better. i feel we should start off small and then get big.. but i have delt with youth discrimination too. I have been to places tryin to eaither take survey's to help better the community and things like that but they have said they are too busy for mi but as soon as an adult goes in to ask they imediately have time for them. It's not because they were really busy, they maybe just didnt take mi seriously i have no idea. but it kind of offeded me because i was trying to do something good for the community but it didnt work out. But yea so i think teens should try to make a difference. :-]

my dad thinks im the stupidest human being on the face of the planet, and it gets wicked annoying sometimes. i will admit im lazy, but he treats me like im 4 years old

I believe we have to change these statistics. I have encountered many prejudiced adults who assume something about a person before they even know them. I have a friend who has been through a lot in the past couple of years. Her sister who is about 16 just went into rehab for abuse of alcohol. All the teachers in my school heard this and automatically thought that my friend would land in the same place. Some people even confronted her about it. I believe we can change these statistics. I think that adults should provide valid information and help protect students, but not in a prejudice manner.

-Meredith Swan

I have experienced youh discrimination. I was in a jewelry store and the lady who owned it would not keep her eyes off me and my friend. I picked up a necklace to try it on and all the tags fell off. Instead of putting it back all messy I went to go give it to her to fix but she was giving me the dirtiest, meanest, scariest look ever so I just bought the necklace and made my mom return it a few days later because I was too afraid too.

yep. I definitely think there is an issue with prejudice towards teens...idk what we can do right away, because it will probably take a while to change the public mentality

I remember as was at a highschool for information night for new students. I have 3 brothers and they are all young. I passed a teacher who stopped me and asked "Are these your kids?" This was very surprising, but i felt embarrassed, since i am only a freshman.

I experienced youth discrimination while on vacation. After my family got a bite to eat, we saw this store full of purses, cosmetics, etc. By the way, I have many sisters that are all younger than me. When we walked in the store, the store clerk quietly said "Uh oh..kids" and sighed. One worker came over to watch us closely, I thought because she thought we were going to steal something or mess up things since we were kids. Once my mom saw what the worker was doing and how she was paying close attention to us, she said "we are leaving" because she couldn't handle what was going on.

ya my dad thinks im the stupidest person in the world. im 15 and he treats me like im 4

I believe we can change these statistics. Adults always think I am lazy, stupid, or rude hah. FOr example my friend has been through too much in the past couple of years. Her sister, who is around the age 16 by now, has just been recently put into rehab for alcohol abuse. All the teachers knew about it. But some people judge her because they think she is going to land in the same position. They distributed a negative image towards her. Even better, her brother was getting into trouble with everything. I have experienced discrimination such as when I was younger, people thought I was a bad kid such as if I am in a store. If they don't want buisness, treating their customers like that would not make anything better. I believe you can change negative views of youths. I think it is going to take much help from the adults though. Without them, how are we going to get anywhere. I think adults should make valid statements providing proof in a non-hurtful way to make things better. Nice topic Kate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not surprized that adults descriminate against youths due to the reality of these statistics. It is possible; however, to alter such statistics and make America's youth more acceptable within a rather conservative culture. With proper education, and support from friends, we can avoid pregnancy and try to help provent violence. I can see why adults are cautious when it comes to the nation's youth. They could do something more to help change these statistics; it is ultimately a group effort between adults and teens to change the perception of youths. I have never personally experienced blatant descrimination, but there are many youths that have and there needs to be a change.

I am not surprized that adults descriminate against youths due to the reality of these statistics. It is possible; however, to alter such statistics and make America's youth more acceptable within a rather conservative culture. With proper education, and support from friends, we can avoid pregnancy and try to help provent violence. I can see why adults are cautious when it comes to the nation's youth. They could do something more to help change these statistics; it is ultimately a group effort between adults and teens to change the perception of youths. I have never personally experienced blatant descrimination, but there are many youths that have and there needs to be a change.

To be honest I do agree with these statistics everyday at school you hear some new story about a person who did this drug or who tried this etc..however, I also believe it can be fixed and these numbers can be changed. With the right support and help for people with life issues, as this is often the root of alot of abuse.

ya my dad thinks im like the dumbest piece of wood on the planet and treats me like im 4...i admit im lazy, but i do have average grades in life....

I think youth should be judged case by case and not discriminated. There are also tons of teenagers out there who have high honors and are helping the community. If a certain person is making a bad decision then they should be judged not the whole teenage population.

this is a great topic. every day, there is unfair discrimination against youths because so many people get the impression that all teenagers cause trouble when that simply isn't true. we can change the negative view of youths by spreading more information to show that not all teenagers do dangerous things.

I think they shouldn't be prejudice against youth's because there are a lot of kids who haven't done anything to be judged. In my own opinion, I think its sickening that adults say these things even though it is almost always the adults who cause the problems. Just think, if children weren't exposed to violence, drugs, and possibly rape, they wouldn't grow to do the same. If the adults want to say these things, they should think about those less fortunate who have gone through the hardship.

-Brandon Heitz

I really think that as youth, we are stereotyped to all be the same. If there is a story on the news about a car accident involving teenagers, and alcohol, many adults with and without children will automatically stereotype teenagers as reckless drivers and partiers. Don't get me wrong, many teenagers do irresponsible things,it is a part of growing up, but not all are as reckless as the ones that make it into the paper. Not very often are we recognized for the good things we do. I think that many people look beyond the possibility that we are capable of being responsible and assume the worst. As for smaller children, their behavior all depends on how their parents have raised them, they are a reflection of their parents 30 years younger. The children are not responsible for their behavior, up until a certain age, probably around 12 is when they need to start taking responsibility for their actions. It is up to the parents to make sure their children are brought up with manners, and motivation to stop the general public from thinking we are all lazy, stupid and rude.

i honestly think that even though people would say we can change these statistics it's going to be very hard. there is SOME truth to what older people say about younger people we aren't as stupid or rude or lazy as people say. I think if every child or teenager was aware of this problem and was motivated enough that we could change the statistics. Personally even if somebody just made a short add and found a way to put it on the news or on T.V. or the internet such as this it would help A LOT. but that's just me.

-dev

hi.
this sone time I was at a school voulunteering for this program. during the day one boy ran upp to me and said "can u help me look for my mommmy" and i said yes.
then we were looking and stuff and we spot his mother. then when we walk up to her she grbs him right out of my hands and says i dont trust you kids anymore!!!...
and i was soo offended. i try and help her child, and she thinks that im uncapeable of an good deed?
sometimes life isnt fair as a youth!!
hopefully with this site...we're making a change.

I think that adults do have good reason to think that teenagers are out of control. People without children, like someone already mentioned, very rarely see the good things that teens have done. Most often, they see stories on the news about teens who have committed horrible crimes, but they do not often see the good things we've done. Yes, these statistics are crazy, but what adults often don't think about are the majority of these statistics, the teens who do graduate and the teens who volunteer and have enough courage to resist peer pressure and other bad influences. I can see why adults may think that we are out of control, but they do need to give us credit for the things that we do right, the things that go unnoticed, that are not reported on. However these statistics are out of control and something needs to be done. Every one of us can help to get these statistics down, by letting others know, but it is going take a long time and a lot of effort.

My parents always tell me a story about one time when I was a baby and we were out walking. This lady came up to my parents and said, "AWWW, she is so cute...just wait until she is a teenager though and you'll wish you had a gun." I still can't believe someone would say that! How would she know that if would grow up to be a "typical rude teenager"?