Age Is Nothing But a Number

Being a sixteen year old in high school, I’ve learned that one of the biggest misconceptions about us teenagers is that we’re immature.

Countless times have my judgment has been completely ignored because of my young age.

Adults have become so quick to level false accusations about us. Watching numerous reality shows makes us ignorant, and because we adore hearing about the whereabouts of celebrities, we are too unacquainted to have a discussion about political standpoints.

And yes, there is a hand full of teenagers who still choose to behave childishly, but that shouldn’t define the rest of us. There are plenty of teens that would be eager to sit down and talk about the complications challenging our nation today.

It’s frustrating when adolescents discuss the pressure and stress put upon them to prosper in life; nobody seems to give it a second thought. But when the unemployment number rises, it becomes breaking news. It’s not chiefly because one subject is more significant than the other, it’s because it comes from students who aren’t old enough to understand that the pressure to succeed in school is the “least of their forthcoming difficulties.”

Contrary to what our birth certificate states, and what many adults undertake of us, many of us are in fact, mature enough to engage in a developed conversation. Believe it or not, we don’t spend all day squealing about what happened on last night’s episode of ‘Glee’, nor do we spend every waking minute on social networking sites. We’re educated, refined, and sophisticated young adults who want to be treated with equal respect as “actual” adults.

Then again, there will everlastingly be plenty of ignorant adults who’ll dare to say, “What do they know? They’re just kids.”