teenagers Archives

I Could Care Less

If teenagers are amazing at one thing, it’s for us to just not seem to care or at least to put up a facade that we could care less. If you were to look at my Facebook news feed on the normal day you’ll read constant statuses about people ranting on about how they “don’t care anymore about so and so” or how they wish they just didn’t care about anyone, these of course are followed by some stupid hash tags.

It’s an understandable phase we all seem to go through, as people seem to go through so many short romances when we’re teens. Teenagers are an emotional wreck from the start and we understand that if we show that we care about someone, we’re just opening ourselves to be hurt or the chance to be hurt. One minute we can be so in love with someone and all can be right in the world, fast forward to next week and we’re sitting on the couch crying our eyes out with a gallon of ice cream. I’ve been there, minus the ice cream part, and have seen many others go through the same trouble; it’s not fun to watch it all happen and even less fun getting back on your feet.

The goal seems to be then that we want to reach the point where we just don’t give a sh*t (sorry I’m lacking better words here). Life is a journey in itself and through it everyone has to go through many obstacles, this being one of them. Going from being in love to being heart broken isn’t something anyone wants to sign up for right away but it’s something that will happen to everyone at least once. If you are the type of person who just doesn’t seem to care or doesn’t want to get hurt, you’ll never have to face this challenge because you will sit there and convince yourself you don’t need to. You’ll convince yourself you’re fine on your own, doing you, but you’re not alright.

To love someone is just being human. Last I checked I am a human and whoever is reading this is just as much a human as I am. To convince yourself you don’t need someone to care for you is just..well is convincing yourself you’re not human. We all need someone by our side, a good friend, a significant other, or even a family member; we all need somebody who will be there for us. When you act like you don’t give a dam about anyone or anything, people will start to believe you and treat you as such. I’d rather love and be hurt than be treated like I really could care less about you and myself. Nothing should stop you from showing how much you care about someone. As far as I know there is no such thing as “loving someone too much”, if there is well it doesn’t exist in my books.

A message to all teenagers of the world: Go out there into the world and show that you care about yourself and others. Go out there and fall in love. Go out there and let your heart break. It’ll all be okay and so will you.

The Parenting Extremes

For as long as I can remember I’ve had complete freedom when it comes with what I can do with my life. My parents have rarely, if ever, said I can’t do something or hang out with certain people. For as long as I can also remember, I’ve never met parents that are anywhere near as lenient as my parents; many of my friends parents hover over them in one way or another.

My parents didn’t think twice letting me drive and take my friends to play paintball

If you ask my parents why they give me such freedoms, their answer will be that they trust me completely. I’ve never given them a reason to not. I don’t come home drunk or on some drug(s), do reckless things, hang out with the wrong crowd, or be a total numb skull. This trust is what lets me leave late at night, come home even later, have my own car, promote for clubs, sleep over a girlfriends house and hang out with friends they have never met.

Now you may think my parents aren’t involved much in my life if they give me such freedom but, that would be wrong. I love hanging out with my mom and though I can be seen as a tougher kid, I’m not ashamed to say that. Sure me and my dad may get on each other nerves sometimes but, we still have a lot in common that keeps us close. I really do enjoy being around my parents and hanging out with them both.

I was trusted with a car as soon as I got my license

On the other side of the spectrum, most of my friends parents still have a tendency to hover over them as if they’re twelve years old. Their parents control who they hang out with, don’t trust them when they’re out, check in on them constantly, to sum it up they baby their teenage son or daughter. They seem to shelter their kid from the world as much as they possibly can, the same world they’ll one day be on their own to live in.

Ask these teens if they can’t wait to get away from their parents thanks to college or to just be able to move out one day and they will all say “yes!” These same teens usually go totally rebellious once they are free of their parents since they can finally choose their own life to live.

I am not a parent nor am I claiming to be one in anyway. I’ve never raised a kid and don’t plan to for many years to come. I am only a product of how I was raised by my parents; I was raised in a way that I believe every kid should be as well. We all need to be able to experience the world when we’re young, the world we will one day be on our own to live in.