# Ask the teenager!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [June 20, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047 "2000-06-20T22:46:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/1 "2000-06-20T22:46:03Z")
OK, folks, here is your chance. Ask a real, genuine, living teenager that question you’ve been dying to ask the little punk who keeps tearing up your flower garden with his bike, or the one who keeps putting flaming bags of dog poo on your front porch and then ringing the bell. I’ll TRY to answer and if I can’t, I can maybe spend a couple of minutes of one of my eternal phone conversations to ask another little heathen.
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### Author:  [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2000, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/2 "2000-06-20T22:59:27Z")
What’s the one thing you wish your parents (or some other adult) had told you before you reached teenhood?
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2000, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/3 "2000-06-20T23:05:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> What’s the one thing you wish your parents (or some other adult) had told you before you reached teenhood?
> \*\*
Hmmm. . . good question. I’m thinking it would’ve been along the lines of:
“Soon, you are going to start having some feelings (NO, not THOSE feelings). You are going to be in a bad mood a lot and you will probably think everyone is out to make you mad. You are going to disagree with us (my parents) a lot and you have to remember that we are just trying to help you out and that we will still love you no matter what. You probably disagree with this, but trust me, it will happen. We’re not trying to scare you, but it will make you feel better if you remember these things.”
Yep. I wish someone had told me that.
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### Author:  [@kiffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiffa)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/4 "2000-06-20T23:09:18Z")
Would you have listened if they had?
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2000, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/5 "2000-06-20T23:11:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*
> Would you have listened if they had?
> \*\*
Hopefully. I think I would at least be able to recall them telling me that at difficult points now.
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### Author:  [@kiffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiffa)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2000, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/6 "2000-06-20T23:17:11Z")
I like your honest response. Unfortunately, I don’t have another question to pose, however I will remember your offer. Looking forward to your postings.
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### Author:  [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2000, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/7 "2000-06-20T23:43:46Z")
Do parents/teachers still try to scare you guys away from sex/drugs/long hair with UL’s and/or telling only the downsides of these things? Personally, it made me more eager, 'cause there had to be something good about this stuff, otherwise people wouldn’t be doing it in the first place.
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/8 "2000-06-21T00:07:35Z")
What the hell is with those pants? You know the ones I mean–the baggy Salvation Army rejects hanging so low I could play connect-the-dots with your ass pimples if it weren’t for the boxers sticking out all over the place?
-Old Fart
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### Author:  [@avalongod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/avalongod)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/9 "2000-06-21T00:24:23Z")
I do have a question, and it might seem meaner than intended:
Do those teenagers who either smoke or chase fads in order to look cool (and I know not all teenagers do either one) know how utterly idiotic and immature they look to adults?
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/10 "2000-06-21T00:27:41Z")
What’s it like to want a goatee so bad you’d die for one, but the testosterone just ain’t there yet?
I saw this youngster (about 16) razzing his buddy (also about 16) about his scrawny whiskers the other day. The poor guy looked almost devastated. I think he was trying to look like that dude who wears those industrial shoes and is the lead singer in a band I can’t remember the name of.
Reminded me of the frustration of my teenage years.
Still can’t grow a respectable beard. 🙂
If you put any flaming bags of poop on my porch, I’ll… I’ll…
Peace,
mangeorge (Ain’t got no flower bed.)
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### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/11 "2000-06-21T00:38:10Z")
**avalongod** , i’m not a teenager and I can answer that one.
No. And they don’t care. Why are an adult’s opinions relevant to a teen?
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### Author:  [@avalongod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/avalongod)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/12 "2000-06-21T00:40:02Z")
Andros:
Yes I figured they didn’t care (I can remember THAT myself from being a teen). I was just curious if they were aware folk were shaking their heads at the sight of them.
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/13 "2000-06-21T01:16:44Z")
Sorry everyone, I had to stop for dinner. OK.
Sua said:
> [@](#):
>
> Do parents/teachers still try to scare you guys away from sex/drugs/long hair with UL’s and/or telling only the downsides of these things? Personally, it made me more eager, 'cause there had to be something good about this stuff, otherwise people wouldn’t be doing it in the first place.
Sort of. They educate too, though. I think they still do that moreso with drugs. They put out all the TV news shows and stuff with the danger of drugs and they make you watch these videos in health (the one on STD’s was BAD). So I’d say yes, they still do that, but they are also educating us on a lot of stuff (sex ed., mainly).
Andros (aka Old Fart) said:
> [@](#):
>
> What the hell is with those pants? You know the ones I mean–the baggy Salvation Army rejects hanging so low I could play connect-the-dots with your ass pimples if it weren’t for the boxers sticking out all over the place?
I have a pair of those. I guess I originally bought them because I did think they were “cool”. Now, I just wear them because they are comfortable. Mine don’t hang too low, so don’t worry.
avalongod said:
> [@](#):
>
> I do have a question, and it might seem meaner than intended:
>
> Do those teenagers who either smoke or chase fads in order to look cool (and I know not all teenagers do either one) know how utterly idiotic and immature they look to adults?
No offense taken. As you probably noted in my last answer, I said I bought the big shorts because they were cool. I DO realize that I probably look a bit strange to adults wearing those (or my silver shirt, or my bright blaze orange shorts and life-jacket type vest). But then again, I must be smarter than average, because I post here, right? So, most probably don’t realize how stupid they look, but like andros said, they probably don’t care, either. They DO notice the looks ( :rolleyes: ).
mangeorge said:
> [@](#):
>
> What’s it like to want a goatee so bad you’d die for one, but the testosterone just ain’t there yet?
> I saw this youngster (about 16) razzing his buddy (also about 16) about his scrawny whiskers the other day. The poor guy looked almost devastated. I think he was trying to look like that dude who wears those industrial shoes and is the lead singer in a band I can’t remember the name of.
> Reminded me of the frustration of my teenage years.
Well, I don’t have to shave _that_ often, yet, but then again I don’t want to grow my facial hair, either. For those who can’t wait, though, I’d liken it to waiting to open the presents on Christmas morning.
Keep 'em coming, this is fun!
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/14 "2000-06-21T02:05:44Z")
I have a few questions.
1. Do you actually listen to that music they play on MTV?
2. Did you or anyone you know ever think Joe Camel was cool?
3. Can you find America on a map?
4. At what age did you decide you were qualified to decide how you were going to dress?
5. Do you think that what you believe now, you will still believe in five years?
6. To what extent are you aware that the decisions you make now will have consequences for several decades?
7. Who do you blame for your problems?
8. Why don’t you try listening to good music, like Tom Waits, or Louis Jordan?
9. Why don’t you get a haircut, and some clothes that fit?
10. Do post-Columbine `feel good’ measures help quell any burning desire you may be harboring to shoot classmates?
11. Who do you think doesn’t `get it’ – the teenagers or the grownups?
12. If teens smoke to be cool, why do they smoke in such an uncool manner? Do kids not watch Humphrey Bogart movies anymore?
13. How do you react to the movie _The Breakfast Club_?
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/15 "2000-06-21T02:24:32Z")
I’ve got teenagers, but damn if I can get a straight answer out of them, so I’ll give you a try
1)why do teenagers (especially boys!) become know it alls, and can’t be told anything? Was there a specific day when you decided that you knew far more than people three times your age?
2)Why are teenage boys so clumsy and awkward?
and most of all:
1. What the hell is going through that skull full of mush? Get cleaned up, get a hair cut, put on some decent clothes, get a job, shut up, straighten up, and look and act like a human being for once. Why, when I was your age I was already a man! You don’t know how good you have it.
Hey, that was even more fun than ranting at my own kids!😛
Peace!
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### Author:  [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/16 "2000-06-21T02:29:48Z")
1. Sure he does. Why not?
2. Joe camel **is** cool.
3. Of course!
4. 7
5. Who cares. Now is now.
6. He said that he listens.
7. Depends on the problem.
8. Who are they?
9. He want’s to be cool, just as he said
10. Why did you ask him _that_?
11. Depends. Get what?
12. Who’s he?
13. What’s that?
How’d I do, Garfield? 😃
Peace,
mangeorge
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### Author:  [@Lawmill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawmill)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/17 "2000-06-21T02:54:52Z")
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Do you actually listen to that music they play on MTV?
No more than you listen to the music on VH1.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Did you or anyone you know ever think Joe Camel was cool?
No, I don’t go for those backdoor shenanigans.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Can you find America on a map?
I can find the fifty states, but I only know the general area of Guam, Saipan, and the Marshall Islands.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. At what age did you decide you were qualified to decide how you were going to dress?
The day I started buying my own clothes.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Do you think that what you believe now, you will still believe in five years?
I think I’ll have the same basic personality and ethics. My view on the world and its inhabitants will very likely change drastically in college.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. To what extent are you aware that the decisions you make now will have consequences for several decades?
IMO, highly. Still, I think it’s silly that the sophomore and junior years of college have a massive effect on what college you attend; and consequently, how things go for you out in the real world.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Who do you blame for your problems?
I could ask you the same question. I blame myself for everything I have control over. The Man and chance take the hit for everything else.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Why don’t you try listening to good music, like Tom Waits, or Louis Jordan?
Why don’t you try listening to good music, like Dave Matthews Band?
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Why don’t you get a haircut, and some clothes that fit?
Why do you sweeping generalizations?
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Do post-Columbine `feel good’ measures help quell any burning desire you may be harboring to shoot classmates?
Sure, but my boss still makes me feel like reaching for the Smith & Wesson.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Who do you think doesn’t `get it’ – the teenagers or the grownups?
Silly question, some people will never ‘get it’, but awareness and wisdom increase(hopefully) with age.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. If teens smoke to be cool, why do they smoke in such an uncool manner? Do kids not watch Humphrey Bogart movies anymore?
The teen smokers I know aren’t the overachievers, smoking gives them a chance to be part of a social group.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. How do you react to the movie The Breakfast Club?
My school doesn’t have the strict group divisions, nor are the people I know so focused on just one thing. My peers are much more open-minded.
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### Author:  [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/18 "2000-06-21T03:32:08Z")
My questions:
To what degree is racism still a problem for your generation? Do you believe that most people your age are fairly color-blind and look down on those who display racism and prejudice openly? What about sexism; is equality accepted as a given?
I am from a generation that had to “grow up worrying about the Bomb.” (I don’t remember any of this worrying myself, but that’s what they say.) What is your generation’s big worry? Random violence (Columbine, etc.); terrorism with chem or bio weapons; environment?
Are most teenagers really as computer literate as they are made out to be? I mean, TV and movies (they are always right) make it seem like any one of you can just sit down at any computer and just start coding away. How realistic?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/19 "2000-06-21T03:39:42Z")
**Lawmill** wrote:
> [@](#):
>
> No more than you listen to the music on VH1.
VH what?
> [@](#):
>
> I think I’ll have the same basic personality and ethics. My view on the world and its inhabitants will very likely change drastically in college.
Remember that before you get your tattoo.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Who do you blame for your problems?
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > I could ask you the same question.
I don’t have any problems worth bitching about.
> [@](#):
>
> Why don’t you try listening to good music, like Dave Matthews Band?
Is that one your little Grungenik teeny-bopper bubblegum corporate marxist bands?
> [@](#):
>
> Why do you sweeping generalizations?
Because you smoke too much crack, son, and your room is a disgrace. Do you know what you’re doing to your mother?
> [@](#):
>
> The teen smokers I know aren’t the overachievers, smoking gives them a chance to be part of a social group.
Sure, we know about the fitting-in part. What I’m wondering is how you can kid yourself that you look cool when you’re holding the cigarette like its something you just picked up off the ground and haven’t identified yet, and then pucker up like you’re kissing ugly aunt Bertha everytime you put the thing to your lips. Why can’t kids today learn how to smoke with some style?
> [@](#):
>
> My school doesn’t have the strict group divisions, nor are the people I know so focused on just one thing. My peers are much more open-minded.
I wonder whether those divisions exist anywhere as bad as they are portrayed in movies. But also, what did you think of the speech the guy gives where he says, “_snivel_ I think when you grow up, your heart just _snivel_ dies.”?
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### Author:  [@Lawmill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawmill)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2000, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-teenager/23047/20 "2000-06-21T04:04:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Sure, we know about the fitting-in part. What I’m wondering is how you can kid yourself that you look cool when you’re holding the cigarette like its something you just picked up off the ground and haven’t identified yet, and then pucker up like you’re kissing ugly aunt Bertha everytime you put the thing to your lips. Why can’t kids today learn how to smoke with some style?
I don’t smoke and don’t plan on starting. I agree though, the major issue regarding today’s youth is their inability to smoke with style. Frankly, I’m horrified that my tax dollars don’t go towards teaching my peers how to be cool when they smoke.
> [@](#):
>
> I wonder whether those divisions exist anywhere as bad as they are portrayed in movies. But also, what did you think of the speech the guy gives where he says, “_snivel_ I think when you grow up, your heart just _snivel_ dies.”?
That comment’s only purpose is to galvanize youth against the horrible dehumanizing process that occurs when one turns 20. At least John Hughes has the guts to tell it like it is. I’ll support his fledgling youth movement by buying tickets to the rest of his films.
> [@](#):
>
> Is that one your little Grungenik teeny-bopper bubblegum corporate marxist bands?
Grunge? No. Teeny-bopper? No. Bubblegum? No. Marxist? No. Corporate? Everyone needs money.
> [@](#):
>
> To what degree is racism still a problem for your generation? Do you believe that most people your age are fairly color-blind and look down on those who display racism and prejudice openly? What about sexism; is equality accepted as a given?
I live in a very liberal and diverse area, so my observation might be a bit skewed. Race is still something that people notice, but any sort of racism is nonexistent. Frankly, being racist would get you in 10 times more trouble than being gay.
> [@](#):
>
> Are most teenagers really as computer literate as they are made out to be? I mean, TV and movies (they are always right) make it seem like any one of you can just sit down at any computer and just start coding away. How realistic?
I’m in Silicon Valley, my parents and many of the adults I see rely on computers to pay the bills. I’m very good at configuring and installing, but my hardware skills are almost nil. I can’t install drives or set up a network.
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