Ask The Teenager II !

In My Humble Opinion
41

Columbine:
I am not really scared of violence in our school; however, I try not to be as mean to people if they push me in the hallway (a frequent occurance at our overcrowded school) or step on my heels or something.

Last “classic” I had to read for class:
Julius Caesar. I didn’t hate it or like it.

How much my peer group influences me?
None! I go out of my way to be different. I love my friends, but I don’t want to be anything like them. I also don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks of me.

How certain am I of what I know?
I am more argumentative than certain, so I will defend anything until I’m completely humiliated. I’m weird like that.

Loud music
I actually hate when music is played too loudly. However, sometimes if I’m talking on the phone really late at night and I don’t want my parents to hear that I’m still awake, I’ll turn the radio on pretty loudly.

42

As a long time lurker, I saw this thread and needed to register. While all these teenagers are great, they really don’t reflect the majority of the teenage population. Most of them are in advanced classes and in clubs or church. Lets take a walk on the other side. I’m 19 and a freshman in college. I’m doing well, but I’m in classes that these other teenagers probably took years ago. My school is huge and my favorite thing to do on the weekend is get wasted, and when I’m sober my favorite thing to do is drive my wasted friends around (I will never drive drunk and don’t trust my friends not to). As for the questions… My favorite is: “why do teenagers do drugs?” I would say most teenagers that do drugs are depressed, they want a way to forget about their troubles, and this is their way. Some kids go to church, some do drugs. Sure the first hit may be peer pressure, but I don’t think many kids will stay with something they hate because of peer pressure. I’m a female, so the baggy pants is a tough one. I like them personally, nothing worse than a guy in a pair of nut huggers. I don’t hate my parents at all, what would even give anyone that idea? And of course someone over 21 could relate to a teenager, they’ve only been out of the teenage years for 2 years themselves.

43
  • Year 10 at a public school in Australia
  • Academic scholorship for maths & science, average in most other classes
  • Cheerleader. Don’t laugh. :stuck_out_tongue:
  • Female

What was the last “classic” that a mean old English teacher made you read?

Weird thing, actually - we don’t get made to read “old classics” much. Unless Go Ask Alice counts.

How do you grade what your parents “know” about life issues (drugs, sex, education, money, relationships, etc.)?

Quite a lot… but I don’t know if that’s neccessarily a good thing or not. Because of the basic knowledge they have, my mum especially tends to overreact to things - she knows drugs are bad, she knows the warning signs, so if I show the slightest signal that could mean I’m taking drugs, she’ll freak out. And her worries are basically unfounded, too. They are a little naive about teenage relationships though… I’m 15, and they’re still only just warming up to the idea of me having a boyfriend. Plus they don’t seem to realise how much money I really need to buy clothes. :wink:

Do you ever worry that your school might become the next Columbine?

No… I live in Australia, so I’m not too concerned.

Would it kill you to turn the music down?

Well, yeah. I mean, everyone else has it up this loud! :wink:

Do teenagers still start smoking “to be cool?”

Some do, yeah. But not all. A lot of the kids I know who do were raised by smoking parents, so it’s always been a part of their life… plus I for one have smoked once or twice, and it wasn’t done to be cool, believe me.

Do you hate your parents?

It depends. My parents can be cool, but they’re also extremely over-protective. One weird thing though - while most people are allowed to go where they like at my age, their parents normally frown on skimpy clothing, so they have to sneak out with something over top. But my parents let me wear whatever I like… it’s just the going out that’s the problem. <G>

The clothes deal.

I think this is more of an american thing too, but I could be wrong. Basically I’m a jeans and strappy top girl, so I doubt anyone could accuse me of being a fashion victim.

Peer group influence.

I personally am not too affected by what my peer group does. Neither are a lot of my friends. It could just be because I go to a good school, but I don’t know.

44

What, do you call that music???

Seriously, what popular or general history is really long ago to you? For example, I was born in the mid-Sixties. When I was in high school, Elvis and all the Fifties culture seemed pathetically out of date and popular culture didn’t exist before the Forties. The Sixties seemed like a really cool period of time that I just barely missed out on.

45

Hey, another teenager to answer questions. My kinda CV thing:

  • 14 in year 9 at an English school
  • Spent 13 years of my life in Scotland
  • I was also born there
  • In a (hopefully) permanent relationship
  • Experience in first love, etc
  • Into “weird” music, Slipknot, Rage Against The Machine, Limp Bizkit (Significant Other and before) and Cypress Hill, etc.
  • Willing to answer any and all questions, if I have the time!
46

When do I get the award for “Thread that enticed the most lurkers to register”?

47

Right now.

48

Of course, events in the 70s and earlier happened before I was around. I think I have a relatively good understanding of the era. Teenagers from fifty years ago are old now; but the movies, music, and cars aren’t all bad.

I listen to a pretty wide variety of music. I have lots of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Temptations, and Chuck Berry stuff. In my opinion, the only real advances since the 70s have been more fusion between genres and more accoustic effects.

49

Questions! I got questions!!

  • Eminem: Yay or Nay?
  • What kind car would you get if you had all the money you wanted?
  • In general, what’s cool right now?

Always trying to keep up with the times…
-Ben

50

I like rap, but I hate Eminem. I’d get a Bently (sp?) if I had all the money I wanted. I really want to say up for a 98 or so Toyota Celica (before they got ugly). Actually right now it’s really cool to just be yourself, I think peer pressure with teenagers has gone a lot in high school. I also think peer pressure will never be less of a threat in junior high. I haven’t been out of junior high that long, but I can already see it has changed A LOT. It’s also pretty cool right now to not to drugs. A lot of kids just want to go out and ride their bikes or skateboard and not worry about drugs. It’s really hard to answer a question like what’s cool now, but these are my opinions and of course probably don’t mean shit.

51

That was really bad, next time I’ll make sure and preview.

52

Eminem: Yay or Nay?
**I think if I listen to it as a satire of rap, its funny. Ohterwise, I think the guy is a jerk. **

  • What kind car would you get if you had all the money you wanted?
    **BMW convertible sports car. Soo cute. **

  • In general, what’s cool right now?

I think shock value. For example the new popular kid of the moment got a Porsche and promptly ran it into a pole in front of our school. He said he did it for grins, even though hes grounded until he graduates next year basically.

53

Hey, Garfy-boy! Looks like there are a lot more teenagers on the SDMB than there were the first time you did this thread. Here’s my question:

What are some of the slang words popular nowadays?

54

I think modern mainstream rap is pretty boring. Eminem is lyrically complicated, but I don’t think his music is very interesting. Groups that use more than lyrics and a basic beat are preferential. De La Soul and Outkast are much better in my opinion.

If I could only own one car, it’d be a BMW M5. They’re super fast with plenty of room for the whole family. For performance, a 427 Cobra or a McLaren F1. For budget performance, a twin turbo Supra. I’m very happy with my current car, a supercharged MR2. It’s faster than many Porsches while being cheap, fun, reliable, and getting 30mpg. FTR, I bought the car and pay for gas, insurance, and all repairs.

I’m really too old for cool. What I admire isn’t what the skater or the drama fiend likes.

55
  • Eminem: Yay or Nay?

Yay. Let me explain…I do not believe in most of what he says, I am against almost all the views exposed in his songs, but 1) He has the right to say everything he likes 2) I do believe in what some of the lyrics say (“I am whatever you say I am”, “Stan”) 3) I really do not know if he believes what he sings, if he believes what he says, then he at least is not a hypocrat(sp?), and sadly, many of his views are approved by many people.

  • What kind car would you get if you had all the money you wanted?

Black Crown Victoria… seeing I won’t have money to buy it, a Mitsubishi Mirage, any color

  • In general, what’s cool right now? I do not know…besides, it depends where, right? Because I am not in the US(at least not mainland USA)
56

My boyfriend says that he has to talk to me like we’re in the 80’s. Some of the slang him and his friends use are: word, dope, the overuse of ass, the N word constantly, calling girls bitches. I know some people get pissed at kids that talk that way, and I used to, but I know he doesn’t mean anything by it. One of my favorites is when he calls me white bread , or his saying for goodbye: “I’ll see yo white ass lata”. Also when we first met his friend used to say “yo, Jay wants to play sufflecock with you”. I still have no idea what that means, so I would ask him to clarify and he would say “You know, a little field testing”. I got the picture, but I still thought it was stupid. My slang is still along the lines of cool, stoked, etc…but I have been told I need to catch up with the times.

57

*Eminem: Yay or Nay? *Eminem can do whatever he wants. At first it was ok, now it’s kind of gimmicky. It got old, that’s all.
*What kind car would you get if you had all the money you wanted? * probably an old Caddy, a hearse in some really odd colour, or something semi-big and ghetto tank-like.
In general, what’s cool right now? Well, with me, I guess it’s being true to yourself and realizing when you need a change and when it’s ok to be exactly who you are. The things I like would probably get me labeled as a freak by most people if I actually wore the clothes I’d really love to wear and express the fact that I like to do the things I do when no one has to know. People look at me strangely now but if they knew me better they’d probably be scared. ::devilish grin::

58

Credentials:
~10th grader
~School of about 800 or so
~CM classes
~band

[bClassic novel:/b]
Watership Down (bunnies talking and fighting with each other really isn’t an interesting storyline)
To Kill A Mockingbird

Another Colombine:
Well, my school has had MANY bomb threats, but its mostly just kids trying to get out of class and freak people out (thats my opinion anyway) it keeps us all thinking about the chance that something like that might happen, but I’m not really worried that it will.

  **Eminem Yay or Nay:[b/]
 I personally can't stand rap music, especially Eminem. Any music that uses really bad language or disrespects people just turns me off. Although, there are some exceptions with rap music, but not too often.
59

16
Single, available guy!
1100 in my school
in Writer’s club, trivia team, in the musical, big art guy with ceramics and all
like chemistry
standard white male buddhist

I have a great ablility that I can hang out with just about everyone. Used to be a big nerd, gained confidence. I am kind of a manslut, I have more girl friends than guy friends. I guess cause I do more girly things, like writing and drama.

I wear baggy pants. I do it because I can get more wear out of them if I don’t grow out of them quickly. They have many pockets, so I can carry stuff. And they are nice and comfortable.

I did dye my hair blue, which you can see here: http://www.geocities.com/reddragon60 . I guess I did it beacuse I wanted something different. I like to shake people up and make them see new things. So that’s why also.

I stay far away from drugs, I don’t want to get messed up more. But I am fine being around people who do them, as long as they don’t do them around me and aren’t stoned/tripping/drunk/shooting hammer.

Have fun!

60

Are you and your peers (significantly) influenced by advertizing?

Do you feel you’re political?

Do you live for the present or think about your future? Does the unknown worry you?

What’s toughest being a teenager today?

What/Who brought you to the Straight Dope Message Board?

How would rate the Community?