Since I was a child, I’ve always wanted to be a teenager. I wanted to hang out with the “cool” kids, make my own decisions, and just simply goof around. I had always looked at teenagers in amazement. There freedom struck me. The way they talked, the way they dressed, the way they did whatever made them happy; I wanted to be like them. I wanted to stay out late on Friday nights with friends, cruise down town, and go to parties with thumping music. That’s what I had always thought being a teenager was all about.
Now, being a teenager myself I have found that they, or I and my friends are still just kids ourselves. Being a teenager doesn’t make you “cool”. Granted being a teenager does give you more freedom, it also gives you more responsibilities. As a child I wanted to be a teenager, but as a teenager I wish I could go back to being a child. Life was so simple; innocent. Everything was an interesting and new adventure. Little or no homework, that was nice. I miss the times when we played our childhood games such as hide and go seek, tag, red rover, and sharks and minoes. We could be entertained with the simplest things, whether it was glue, rubber bands, rulers, pencils, it didn’t matter. Our imagination as children is so much more unique and interesting than those of our teenage selves. We tend to lose the ability to make entertainment out of anything, try new things, and even make new friends. It seems as we get older, we tend to shut more and more people out. We’re not as open minded as we once were. Things have changed. People we once called our best friends are just people we pass in the hallways.
School is more stressful and demanding, more drama. More bullying and rumors; many of us as teenagers don’t know how to handle it, so we just go with the flow. As young children, we had our opinions and we told people what we thought whether they liked or not. We stood up for what we believed in and what we wanted. Now it seems as if we can’t even speak for ourselves, we rely on others to do it for us. Many of us are followers and not leaders, and many that we look to as “leaders” we shouldn’t. Let’s face it; usually the mean kids at school are the “cool” ones, because no one can seem to stand their ground around them. As teens we should be able to stand up for ourselves, even more so than we did as children! We should be role models for the next generation and help them keep their innocence and imagination; their opinions and beliefs. We need to remind ourselves and other teens that we need to stay more like children and not worry about growing up. There’s too much time for growing up. There’s too much time to worry about money, jobs, and even love. As teens we need to stay children and keep open minds. I always wanted to be a teenager, but sometimes I wish I could go back to being a child.