Teens as a Visible Minority  

Thanks for commenting, sephrenia!

I very much agree with your words, "It doesn't make it any more right now than it did then."

Discrimination against teenagers is NOT A NEW issue at all.

It's funny that many people who were probably treated poorly by adults when they were teens - have turned into adults who treat teens poorly now.

Be well, sephrenia - points well taken!

So true! And this prejudice is the same as any other.. judging a whole group for what a minority of the group do..

muscare - thank you for commenting.

I'm glad that you "treat a person for who they are, not the 'category' they fit into!" KUDOs to you!

Yes, I'm sure that 'P' plates are another thing that society likes to call a 'red flag' where teens are concerned. Another 'indicator' of something people can point fingers at with teens. Thanks for bringing this up! I wouldn't think about 'P' plates normally because I am not around many teens with vehicles, since I am along public transit routes all the time. I only travel by public transit...

I will ask some of the young students I go to University with about this topic - the ones who do drive vehicles to school. Your comment has sparked my curiosity about 'P' plates.

I wonder, muscare, do you think that 'car model' might also play a factor in prejudice against teens? It seems, the more I speak to people about this, that almost ANYTHING can be attached to a teen and 'mark' a teen so that people can mock, criticize, and abuse certain teens (ones who really aren't doing anything wrong).

I do think that car models play a part in how teen drivers are seen, as some of the lads like to drive high powered vehicles, and as is the case with some with high powerd cars, they do wheelies, burn outs, etc. This sort of thing isn't only done by P-platers though, there are older drivers who do it also. I feel it is only a minority of teens that do this, but a lot more get the blame!

Here's something, bowtieguy, that might make you cringe.

Most of the high-profile serial killers in America that have been widely shown on TV and in documentaries have been young men who look 'normal' and act in the way that society deems 'decent.' In their teen years, they have usually set this tendency toward 'normal,' 'blend in' habits and clothing, just like parents and society prefer - versus any habits and clothing that people don't seem to like.

Most have looked like 'clean-cut' individuals, and most have acted just as polite and mannered as society likes young men and teens to be.

By contrast, I cannot even recall the last time a baggy-attired serial killer was profiled on any documentary.

I like to talk to baggy-butt-pants teens on public transit, myself, and have found them to be just as intelligent and polite as their fitted-jeans peers. In fact, most teens have a wonderful sense of humour about their clothing - and a remarkable propensity for forgiving adults who mistreat them based on their looks.

I speak to teens randomly and on a daily basis and have not encountered any 'no good' teens, though I speak to teens in baggy pants or heavy metal t-shirts or with spiked hair, with tattoos, with piercings, etc. Boys are actually easier to speak with than girls, even though some of the boys do often wear more 'drastic' (non-conforming) clothing than the girls.

I wonder, bowtieguy, if one of your teens choose to wear 'different clothing' one day and arrived home to recount that he/she had been treated rudely by adults on the way home - would you say "Serves you right, looking like that" or "How DARE!" ?

Hi Malyck,

Don't apologize for your presentation! Well said!

You bring up a very valid point about teens being required to show respect, even for people who haven't earned the right to receive respect!

Thank you for being polite and offering your seat on the bus to the elderly, pregnant, and disabled. I hope that some of them appreciate this. I notice you said "often I just get glared at," so I hope that once in a while you are appreciated and don't get glared at. I'm glad you didn't overgeneralize and say "I always get glared at" because this probably means that you're still aware of 'INDIVIDUALS' and - hopefully, you still possess enough integrity not to lump all the adults into one category. Hopefully you'll develop into an adult who maintains the ability to see 'each person' and not 'all people' for what they are.

Thanks again for commenting - be well, Malych, and hang in there!

teeray~~

Hi flowerchilde,

Thank you for your pertinent and well projected comments (including a LOT of "!!!'s").

I love human beings, too, and I often wonder why the power of 'misunderstanding' has so many people in a grip, instead of what people usually say about 'neighborly friendship' and all that stuff.

We LIKE to like other people and we LIKE to be liked...but we often don't BEHAVE well or actually extend ourselves to like others without pre-judging, do we?

Thank you again for your words.

Hi Dolcerina - you make some really good points about people seeking someone weaker to push their frustrations onto.

I'm glad that you teach your son about his rights and help him to learn all the ways in which he can stand up for himself (in reasonable ways, of course). There are many ways for teens to stand up for themselves - but I don't think that many parents teach this. I think that many parents do well with the 'teaching manners' but are so concerned with this part that they forget to teach 'how to be reasonably assertive/stand up for yourself.'

I hope your son will encounter fewer 'bullying' problems from adults as a result of your attention to his 'people skills.'

I hope too

Agrees that teenagers have to know their boundaries definitely..