Opinion of teenagers?

[SucceededKiller]

I was just wondering what the opinion is of teenagers is in the country you reside and how much it changes between countries :D Maybe a description of your stereotypical teenager XD

I think I'm right in saying that here in England teenagers are seen as bad people and are stereotyped as 'hoodie' wearing, carrying a knife (possibly) and wiling to start a fight/argument at the first opportunity we get, so much so that some people can get nervous if, for example, we are in groups. We are not trusted with anything or by anyone that doesn't know us even if we are not the type of person that carries a knife or wants to mug someone and as a result we all suffer from these people who are mainly 'chavs'. Descriptions from wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav) and the urban dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chav), which in my opinion has the funniest descriptions although i cant disagree with them. :D

I was at ASDA (supermarket :D) not too long ago and i was watched by some women everywhere i went XD I don't know why and have no idea who she was but i bet she would never do that to another 'adult'.

The problem with 'chavs' has got so bad however that signs like this (http://www.shof.msrcsites.co.uk/chavs.jpg) are now needed

But that is just England and my opinion so feel free to discuss your opinion of teenagers in the country you reside in or your 'run-ins' with teenagers whether good or bad :D

[DTKreten]

Since i was teenager myself not so long ago, i can only say some things about them are blown way out of proportion. I found myself a few times in situations like you mentioned in the supermarket, where i had a feeling they were spying on me so obviously it made me want to walk up to them and ask what the problem is. Obviously, some teens do steal, and i can understand a part of the sellers worries, but not every teen is a hooligan and a thief. Generalization of any kind is an unacceptable social behavior in my eyes and should be treated like something wrong.

What i may say for my part is that me and my friends surely did some stuff that people understood in the wrong way, but we only did it for a few laughs, and i might add that absolutely no damage to property or any injuries were done to people or their belongings (for example we mixed the chairs from two coffee shops that were 20 meters away during the night, was hilarious to see the owners with a giant WTF sign over their heads :p). The stuff we did and sometimes still do can be considered as small time pranks that end in both parties laughing their souls off to tears, and nothing more.

The situation here is perhaps not so bad as in england, but still i can have simpathy for teens as they really are sometimes treated badly.

And about the sign...Is that serious? That looks like its been stolen from a zoo :p

[5NaDDeR]

lol i work at a store myself and i'm 16 so i always have a look if there are a whole bunch of teenagers are so i know the feeling :p

[SucceededKiller]

This women didnt work at the supermarket though :p I walked round the shop and she was watching, i pay and she watches, she pays and im stood with my mates...you guessed it, she watching, i leave the store and she follows me, she goes to her car...still looking at me, then she drives off but has to have ONE more glance to see what im doing... but then my day was made up when, yet again, someone i dont know said "Hey, hows it going?" at first i wondered who they were talking to, as normally its 'Adults' teenagers (we are effectively seperated hence the space XD) but when i realised i said hi back :p but its good to know not everyone sees us as nasty people. And that sign...i believe it is real, ill check next time i go Dorset :D

[Nicoleise]

It's not that generalized here, except for two things. However, I also know about the chavs, aka NEDs, and from what I know and have seen, they should be ferried to a remote island and they could attempt to build some form of society there. I would drop them off there along with a big sign ;
If you ever develop any method of transportation or weapon, which reach is further away from this island than you can throw a stone with your bare hands, we will obliviate you

In Denmark, teenagers are pretty much recognized as any other person. They lack in skills and knowledge, and even moreso in experience, but they make up for that by being the potential that's gonna propell us forward in the future. Of course, we also have the hoodie-wearing idiots who choose to be complete morons when it comes to interacting with society, however we only label those, not all teens.

What I've personally found to be annoying though, is that they don't recognise teenagers as someone who can buy anything more expensive than an icecream. I own a pretty vast surround sound system, which is a hobby of mine, if you will. I purchased the front speakers when I was 14 years old, but when I wanted to buy an amplifier marked at £1100 later on, in another shop, I was treated pretty much as though I took time away from "real customers" with my questions about this unit that I would obviously not buy since I was just a silly kid. Needless to say, I bought the amplifier, DVD, remaining speakers and television at a grand total that way exceeds £6000 elsewhere! I never do business with the mentioned shop, and I always share the story to anyone who asks.

So, if there was anything to complain about, when being a teenager in Denmark, it would be that you're not always taken very seriously. But apart from that, they're pretty much individuals like the rest of us :)

[Sierra]

Maybe she simply liked you, didn't think of that SK?

Basically interesting thread, and I think your description applies to every nation's teenagers. Times are like this, ya? Teenagers walk around with cell phone playing music loud, with 29187 piercings, or trousers like that sk8 stuff right? Like he can't walk and I can see his back which looks *^*#@&* terribly but I guess that's stylish.

Speaking of stylish, I noticed some people like to dress or do other things, like piercing, earings, hair cuts etc, they don't really like or want to, but it looooks COOOOL so it has be! That's big lol in their face.

When I lived in UK I heard a lot about knife accidents too, so no wonder if you see, let's say, 18yr old guy, hooded, spiting and screaming "WTF you %&$#%# you got a $&@#$ problem mate~!!!!!!!!11!!?????????" you take that knife in mind. It's like if I stand in queue in shop, and a guy with totally wasted face enters. He's not likely gonna buy orange juice, but alcohol. And my guess is always right lol, same here. Some things are just pinned down to people, and so the stereotypes born.

I guess it's true every generation changes it all a bit more. I for example make everything otherwise than my parents, regarding all. We think differently, we have totally different points of view, and all that combines into Call Of Duty - Family Warfare.

And I simply love to break stereotypes, and of course hate to follow them.
I think you should change your life the way you see fit, sometimes being left alone with noone supporting you with your decisions. In the end, it's your life, your choices.

I really laugh when I see girls like 14-15yrs old trying to be 24 hahah, that's so poor.


Once again, very good thread. I hope to see some good posts here.

[SucceededKiller]

I hope she didnt...she was about 50 and the look she gave me was not exactly nice...
But stereotypes are hard to change unless you meet someone who you think fits that stereotype and they dont but as ours has got so bad and the prospect of talking to a knife wielding chav after a few drinks and smokes aint something people want to do and as such the chance of them changing their opinion on us is low and hard to achieve... I remember someone talking to me once though, just randomly but that was because it was snowing and i was wearing a shirt XD he probably thought i was crazy and crazy people are usually the easiest and sometimes best to talk to :D

[Sierra]

I hope she didnt...she was about 50
What's so strange about that, she may be rusty but that doesn't change the fact she would like to.... discuss... some things with you :lol:
the look she gave me was not exactly nice...Well if that's the case...

I remember someone talking to me once though, just randomly but that was because it was snowing and i was wearing a shirt XD he probably thought i was crazyYeah, that goes basically for your mentallity, as it may be done by a guy who is 15, 20, 25 or 30 yrs whatever. But it's your call isn't it, there is soooo plenty of examples like this one where people go "?" on your actions, words, but what the hell you do as you please. Unless you do something... not so proper, like little kids cry when see you or something hehehe
and crazy people are usually the easiest and sometimes best to talk to :DI fully agree with you on this one.

[Selena]

Just to comment on the old lady... She might not have seen you as a thief... Maybe just someone whom she had loved and lost. People tend to "recognize" other people all the time... Imagine you being the age of the son she lost 5 years ago, and seeing "him" again made her act all weird.

There is usually a great deal of things going through a humans head.

Or, she just got mugged by a dude two days prior by a guy that looked like you and she wanted you to be scared by her evil looks. *chuckles*

Whatever the reason... *shrugs* Doesn't matter.

[SucceededKiller]

I guess that could be true but wouldnt you say something rather than making that person wonder whats happening as i was completely confused.

Can i just mention the following is not directed towards anyone here :)

In my opinion some adults regard teenagers as some sort of 'underclass', like we dont belong here and are inferior to the other age groups.

Some things that have happened to me personaly are that when i was walking my dog and my mum was there i would walk past people and nothing would be said but then when they walked past her they would say 'hello'. Now why not say hello to me? im hardly gonna kill you for saying hello, the worse i could do is ignore you and is that so bad? its not like you couldnt live knowing you were ignored so perhaps its because im a teenager...because im the type of person they have stereotyped into being some sort of evil underclass caring about myself and no others when in reality not all teenagers are anything like that and sometimes its nice to have a conversation with someone you dont know and ok, i could of said hello or i could of said nothing, like i did but when they say nothing to you but hello to the person right behind you, it really gets you wondering about their mentality.

Also when walking down the road to school a 'walking bus' (young kids accompanied by adults on the way to school) was coming the opposite way to me and made no effort to move at all, insted making me walk on the grass as im not exactly going to barge past them, im not that type, but if i was elderly would they do the same? even if i was middle aged? i dont think they would but as im a teenager they decided i what? shouldnt be moved out the way for? that i should be made to move as a result of their ignorance towards us teenagers?

I'm sorry for this post and if it comes across strongly but its an issue i feel strongly for and as a result this post is here the way it is.

[Sierra]

i was walking my dog and my mum was there i would walk past people and nothing would be said but then when they walked past her they would say 'hello'. Now why not say hello to me?[...]
Also when walking down the road to school a 'walking bus' (young kids accompanied by adults on the way to school) was coming the opposite way to me and made no effort to move at all, insted making me walk on the grass
How splendid both examples are, ahh yess.... I so hate that kind of behaviour especially the second one.


I believe, that some people may think - if you are teenager, if you are younger then they are basically, then you should be the one giving the way in everything. Like you should be the first to say hello, or move out of their way as in your example. The other reason may be, that they are very simple people, with no imagination whatsoever. They won't even think of anything, if you are teenager or not, they will just go forward leaving you no space.


When I was younger, I moved away. Now when I'm older and I get someone with that attitude in front of me in example like you described SK, I move away if the person does it as well. If I clearly see that this -removed- is going to be a prince, and thinks the whole sidewalk is his red carpet (and is going directly in the middle of it) I ready up my shoulder and "greet" him lol.

[SucceededKiller]

I'm not the type of person to do that though :p so i move XD also i dont really want to enhance the stereotype :)

Today was better though as some old woman asked me for help. I'm glad that in this world some people still have the courage to ignore the stereotype and treat teeenagers as they would anyone else but the funny part is its always me...i have no idea why. That woman stared at me not my friends, that man said hello to me, not my friends, that woman asked for my help, not my friends XD there must be something... I think the worse part though is when they decide that, even if you have done nothing wrong and they dont know you they still look down at you and, whatever you do, there is always something for them to criticise, as if they are 'the perfect human' who has never done anything wrong and should be a role model to us all.

Here in England, not sure of other countries, we have 'self-serve' checkouts at some supermarkets where you can pay without going to a manned till, just doing it yourself and in this particular store they are split, 2 on the left and 2 on the right... now everyone queues in the middle, thus getting to the first avaliable one as, of course, it is a first come first served system but when a teenager goes to one that they were planning to go to, thus jumping the queue themselves, they look at you in disgust, as if for some reason them being in the queue means you must line up on a side for that sides checkout because the world revolves around them, not everyone else waiting patietly and politely in a queue.
Its normally worse with people in suits as that usualy means they do ok money wise so when they join the queue it seems to become a 'most money served first' system and when the person who is legitimately the next in line goes past them they seem to sulk, and walk off to another checkout in dismay. Its funny to watch, sure, but to see that sort of behaviour , from what you assume to be a respectable businessman really gets you thinking...

Now its a weekend i doubt ill experience much more of this but we can always see what next week holds :D hopefully some more encounters where people show their true selves XD

[Sierra]

I'm glad that in this world some people still have the courage to ignore the stereotypeYeppp

What I read so far, does not strictly treat about teenagers mate. I think you just note some behaviours, but regarding people generally speaking, not only teens.

People will look bad at you if you get faster in the queue, cause they are like that.
The old woman asked for help you, because she simply chose you mate.

I think you're trying to find something on purpose here. I mean, thread is allright and good, but all your points are related to peoples basic mentality, not only teenagers. In my opinion, if I may share one, you simply get to know all those adults and their way of life, what are they like and stuff. By this, you also come up with your own point of view abut life and anything else. And continuing that thought, your point of view about stuff, may be (I think so) very different than other people's. Which means you get more different than you're surrounding and you are interested why maybe.