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| Drama: Punks Take a Stand |
Posted by
ThatOneWastedChick on Friday, September 06, 2002 - 04:21 PM PST
I’ve noticed something wrong with Shmeng. Something very wrong. Now, I can understand why it’s on here. If I were in the position of the adults on Shmeng I’d probably do it too. What is this horrible wrongness I’ve seen? Kid bashing. Not only does it make me feel bad it’s also hypocritical. I’m sure when the adults were our age they were similar. But the kids aren’t really helping the matter either. However, I think it’s time that one of the punks stands up for all teenage kind. No matter how naive we may be…
Yes, I’ll admit it. Teenagers do whine a lot. Usually about something tiny or something that’s cliché. If I had a dime for every time I heard or read some depressed teen on the net say “You don’t understand me!” I’d have quite a few dimes. But, have you thought about it? It might be true. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe we don’t understand you.
Let’s ponder over this absurd notion for a minute. You grown-ups have lived much longer then we have. It’s true. You’ve been through so much more then we have. You’ve had to pay bills, you’ve had jobs, and some of you even have children of your own! We will someday too. But what have we’ve done at this point in our lives? We’ve had to pay for that tube of lipstick (or have had mommy and daddy buy it for us), we’ve done chores around the house or have worked at Burger King, and we’ve baby-sat or have younger brothers and sisters! We can’t possibly comprehend your world.
That’s why we whine about things that don’t really matter to you. That’s why we freak out over something so small. And that’s why we don’t get you. Also, from our perspective sometimes you freak out over tiny things too. For instance we don’t understand why you get so upset over teenage angst. You complain just like we do. Sure, yours maybe more serious, but it’s still complaining and whining just the same. So isn’t it in a way hypocritical to yell at us and tell us to suck it up when you whine just the same? It's just a natural part of life. Just like you bitching about your job, we bitch about school. Just like you bitch about your boss, we bitch about our teachers or our parents. Even in adulthood some of you still bitch about how your parents don’t understand you! Trust me on this one though, as much as you don’t want to hear us complain, we don’t want to hear you complain either. You think that our problems are unimportant and trivial but it’s really only about your point of view. There’s probably someone in some far away land who’s starving and who’s family was just blown up who thinks your problems are just as trivial as you think ours are. You tell us “Just wait till you have REAL problems.” Have you ever stopped to think that that foreigner is saying that about you? Probably not. You don’t want to think about that anymore then we want to think about having your problems.
Reading over what I have written I have come up with a new thought. Maybe we aren’t so different after all. Maybe if we tried really hard we could understand each other. And maybe I’m just dreaming. Nonetheless, adults shouldn’t be as hard as they are on teenagers, and teenagers shouldn’t yell at the adults about not understanding them. For, most of the adults are far wiser then you and I. So, adults, next time you think about scolding that young kindergothen and telling them they shouldn’t be so shallow put yourself in their shoes for just a moment. Fellow teenagers, before replying back to that adult who has scolded you, try to look at the world from their perspective. Or at least make yourself intelligent sounding in the reply. Or maybe read what they have written and think about the comments they have made. There just might be some good advice in there… somewhere…. Now that that’s said and done let’s all take a moment to reflect on ourselves and try to understand each other to the best of our abilities.
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Average Rating : 5.0
Total ratings : 1
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| Punks Take a Stand | Login/Create an account | 51 Comments |
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Re: Punks Take a Stand
by callei (plyn@plynlymon.com)
on Sep 06, 2002 - 04:37 PM
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This supposes that A) teenagers care what others say B) adults care what others say C) both groups care about people in general and D) that either group cares about people in specific.
My biggest gripe about teen angst is it's spelling. (if you want to me understand your "pain", then explain it so that i can understand it).
My second biggest gripe is that, for me as for so many others, it is often based around the teen not thinking for itself, rather being led by its unthinking peers or by marketing companies or dysfunctional family values.
But please dont think that "adults" dont want to to listen to teen angst but will listen to other "adult" angst. that isnt true either. Just like most teens dont actually want to sit there and listen to thier friends claim that they want to commit suicide over some guy or some pants or whatever, most "adults" dont want to listen to "adults" whine about bills, childcare, morgages, or whatever. As someone once said "pain looks great on other people", but once they open thier mouths to whine for 3 hours, well that is just as dull as a teen whining for 3 hours.
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For ages 3 and up
by Monolycus on Sep 06, 2002 - 08:20 PM
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You've raised some valids, Wasted... and since I seem to be one of the most easily misunderstood of the virtual denizens here, I don't have much to lose by responding to you.
What you are calling for, if I read you correctly, is something that we all hear about but few of us ever actually see in a lifetime. I think the ancients called it "Compassion". Seeing things from anyone else's perspective is not something that comes easily to anyone of any age, gender, nationality, orientation, background, tax bracket or any other modifier you want to slap in this sentence. To begin with, our culture doesn't support the idea. Like the phrase "all men are created equal", compassion is something that looks great on paper, but has absolutely no meaning in our daily lives. Of course we're hypocrites. If we layed out our practices on the table beside what we say we believe, we'd be forced to see that we are all of us a bunch of indefensible monsters that can't genuinely justify the oxygen we've spent the afternoon sucking down. That's just the way the cookie bounces. The biggest hurdles in convincing ourselves that we are not as bad as we really are involve spending our time in a tremendous amount of denial, not closely examining much of anything and being as self absorbed as we can be and still manage to get what we want from others. Naturally, we have no interest in another person's point-of-view because in order to really appreciate where someone else is coming from we have to know where we are coming from ourselves. Come on now, nobody wants that.
So why does that bother you here more than it does somewhere else? Shmeng is all about bleeding off the... well, shmeng. Cartharses don't just happen. You have to bitch. A very wise person told me not so long ago that shmeng was the virtual equivalent of a hissy fit. You just feel better for getting it out of you. Unfortunately, the quality of the rant is necessarily going to differ between people whose lifestyles are as different as "kids" and "grown-ups". Perspectives change as lifestyles do.
Primarily, though, the reason I am not interested in seeing the same tired clichés from teenagers (and preteens nowadays... damned growth hormones in the dairy products!) is because I have been there and explored them all to their logical extent. Everybody who has been a teenager has. If teens do not care about the complaints of the adults, it is because they can't identify. When adults don't want to hear about teen angst, it is because they identify all too well... and gotten sick of it. Maybe part of that comes from the embarrassment of having been there ourselves and realising how petty and meaningless it turned out to be.
At any rate, as long as people bleed off their shmeng here, there will be "whining"... and as long as there are different demographics here there will be people who don't want to hear about it. If you are not too thin-skinned about things, it will work itself out. In the meanwhile, you seem to be a thoughtful person, and thoughtful whining is easier to digest than ignorant agreement... no matter how old you get. I am, I was, I will be
~Monolycus.
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Re: Punks Take a Stand
by Devin (devin-at-vibechild-dot-com)
on Sep 06, 2002 - 08:30 PM
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If everyone could write like this, there would be way less kid bashing. Everyone should be very afraid of someone this age who can think this clearly, and pays this much attention, and obviously has no fear.
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Re: Punks Take a Stand
by DevilBunny (land_of_nod@poczta.onet.pl)
on Sep 07, 2002 - 02:16 AM
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Yeah, if all teenagers, especially the younger ones, could write and/or think in this way, there would be no problems with understanding each other with adults.
You mention bitching about teachers and parents. But in most sitiuations (except those with alcoholic parents and that sort) those people just know what's good for you, they try to show you the right way in life, and make you a more inteligent and smart person in the future. Although for many teens it is hard to see this. And I seriously doubt that parents want bad for their children. They love you, but they just sometimes show it in way that you don't understand.
Teenagers whining about shit... as You are generaly writing about American teens, I won't say anything about that. Nowadays it's hard to destinguish those who have real problems and those who just 'pose'. And most of these problems seem a bit funny to me, that is because when I was younger, I lived Poland, and we experience the fuckin' joys of commusnism. And maybe that showed me real problems, not just whining about the next lost boyfriend or that your dad won't give you more money.
That's my bit...
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Re: Punks Take a Stand
by Arthegarn on Sep 07, 2002 - 02:46 AM
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My dear ThatOneWastedChick :
I guess I am one of the "adults" in Shmeng even though I do not practice kid bashing. But rest assured if I did it i would not be hypocritical because when I was your age I was definitely NOT like you. Maybe it was my rising, maybe it was my faith, maybe it was my logic but I never whined saying I wasn't understood. Do you know why? Because I spent too much time trying to understand myself.
Nobody understands the stereotypical teenager because they don't understand themselves either. They are full of contradictions, of opossed wishes and motives, of raging hormones that make them change from joy to sorrow in a matter of seconds. As Jean-Luc Picard said "I barely know who she is and then who she is changes the moment the next man comes into the room"
When I was a teenager I was not sure who I was, but I knew something from the start and that is who I wanted to be. I wanted to be Sir Drymard von Bourn. In the 20th century, of course (Sir Drymard, by the way, was my Paladin character in AD&D. I had that character for twelve years, ever since I was 15, and he reached 12th level XP by XP) Whenever I was in a doubt I wondered how would Sir Drymard act and that I did. Yeah, yeah, go ahead and post something about a super-ego personalization role model and I'll agree, but the fact is that character helped me to see who I wanted to be and so to configure my personality.
When I was a teenager I could not understand most tenagers around me. I understood adults MUCH better. My friends seemed too busy getting drunk or smoking dope or experimenting with sex and romance as to get what I considered a life... They just lived for the moment, for their gross apetites, just like that barbarian king in De Rei Cordis. They were so unstable in their attitudes... Not superficial ones, they all agreed I wasted my time with my books and said I had to "get a life", for instance. I mean they were unstable in who they were, what they wanted, what were they going to do to get it, what they felt... Actually they considered me some sort of a rock in the malestorm and clinged to me when the turmoil of their lives and emotions was too violent for them (I will always think that's one of the reasons I had so many girl friends and so few girlfriends). My closest friends said I was a disguised Vulcan
Being an adult is not about paying bills and having jobs, just as being young is not about going to the High School and having a (comparatively) load of spare time. I know people who are 40 and have children of their own and they never grew up. They never matured. Being an adult is about realization, about realizing who you are, deciding who you want to be and struggling to get to be that person. It's about not being carried by the tides of life in any direction, and that includes stereotypical and unthinked "I-am-against-insert-word-here". It's about NOT being a punk unless you really believe there is no future (and with all due respect if you really believe that you'd better get help before you hurt yourself).
I can't speak for ever adult in Shmeng (sure they will make their voices heard, anyway) but I wouldn't say what you whine about doesn't interest us. Actually if you look around you'll see we whine about almost the same things: too little love, too little sex, too little money. It's all about the WAY the whinning is done. One thing is releasing presure in a brief, one time explosion; or asking for advice, or just sharing your problems when you just can't solve them by yourself (hey, I've done that twice in this site and nobody complained) and another thing is the Deus Ex Machina whinning, the crying in mommy's shoulder attitude, as if complaining was going to solve something (a childish attitude that really works for children). It's the "Hey-look-at-me-I-am-in-such-a-special-situation". OK, what is it you want? An advice to solve your problem? Counseling? Shmeng release? Or just to be
Read the rest of this comment...
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- Side Note by Arthegarn on Sep 07, 2002 - 09:05 AM
Re: Punks Take a Stand
by ThatOneWastedChick on Sep 07, 2002 - 06:07 PM
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Okay, I am sorry I wrote this article. It has made a lot of people angry and has caused fighting. I am truly sorry I did that. I just wanted to say that if you want to bitch then dont bash others, even whiny teenagers, when they do. Or if you are going to bash someone think about why they are complaining first. Try to veiw their situation from their shoes. I dunno... maybe I'm asking to much of the world. Nonetheless, sorry for causing such a riot on Shmeng.
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Re: Punks Take a Stand
by IamSquid (AAA@sockmonkeys.net)
on Sep 09, 2002 - 01:06 PM
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Children suck. I demand large portions. The only thing I like about kids is that when yoo eat one, it's mother isn't usually too far behind.
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Any suggestions?
by Sticupus (sticupus@hotmail.com)
on Sep 10, 2002 - 08:00 PM
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Being a teenager can be bizarre, wonderful, lonely, confusing, boring, overwhelming, sickening, pleasurable, saddening and everything in between all at the same time. Teens tend to take it out in irrational anger, angst, sex, drugs, alcohol, or verbalizing as well as many other ways. Shemng is not a place for this breed of venting. Yes, teen problems are 'shemng' too like all others, but the audience here seems not to want any part of it. They have listed their reasons why, so there is no question about that. However, where do they go to vent? To their drugs? To their angry sexual acts or drinking?
As I am aware, not many places harbor a nurturing environment for expression in the average teen life. Parents won't listen, teachers don't give a fuck, and their peers are worthless for meaningful answers because they are in the same boat usually.
I don't drink, I don't take drugs, or have sex, or have angry violent out bursts. Instead I sit on my problems. I can't solve them all the time nor change them, I just keep them inside. This makes me bitter, and I snap at people. People think I am angry and my mannerisms sometime confuse them, like I am attacking them in simple instances like when I say "Hello." to them. I don't feel this whole situation is healthy for me.
I bring this up because I have no place to vent. It seems this is true for many other teens here too. Shemng is not the place for this material, but does anyone have any easily accessible suggestions? "Shut up, take your problems somewhere else." isn't working out.
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Re: Punks Take a Stand
by BlueVampyress on Sep 23, 2002 - 02:51 PM
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Though I am a teenager,I cannot stand whining.It is extremely boring.Everyone whines,I know.Most people also hate the whining..Teen whining,or adult whining.
There are many problems teenagers have,and ranting could make them feel better.Same with adults.
I agree with someone else that teenager whining could be annoying because of the spelling,or when they do not explain.I also agree with your last paragraph, ThatOneWastedChick.
But what I find really annoying about teenagers whining(some,not all) is how they start all this clique bashing.I see it all the time.*sigh*
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