# Is this normal for a 16-year-old? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656 "2005-10-17T21:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/21 "2005-10-18T01:07:50Z")
Have you considered passing the hat to raise funds to have her shipped somewhere? Bus Parcel Express is quite affordable, but remember to poke a few airholes in the box and include a water bottle and some absorbant straw on the bottom of the box. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/22 "2005-10-18T01:18:38Z")
I’m currious as to the level of hottness this girl is. Her silly actions may be perpetuated because she has a flock of guys always telling her how wonderfull and funny she is. (OR whatever) And as some one has already said: " The words attention whore come to mind." ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/23 "2005-10-18T01:30:00Z")
I think it’s a bit rash to say that she has bipolar manic disorder. I mean, some of my friends honestly believe that I have borderline personality disorder and I’m quite sure I don’t. I’m not one to self-diagnose and I’ve never been to a therapist. But, to me, it’s just raging teenage hormones. I’m sure many many teenagers experience this, but some show it and other’s don’t. And she isn’t the kind of girl guys flock to. In fact, I think she scares most of the guys in my school. And she calls me a tight-ass (okay, not exactly, but something like that) whenever I don’t laugh at something. :dubious: I don’t know…I’m one of those teenagers who don’t really laugh or smile much unless something really amuses me. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/24 "2005-10-18T01:48:03Z")
She’s an adolescent girl, not an adult. She’s at a very difficult stage of her life and the people around her are also going through their own picky, grumpy, moody, immature, insensitive stages. A little patience and kindness won’t kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/25 "2005-10-18T02:34:45Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > A little patience and kindness won’t kill you. Hey. **HEY**. Could you try to be a little more tactful? I, as a mean bastard, am sensitive about my condition. Perhaps you didn’t know that “patience and kindness” can actually kill. For more information, please visit our website at “[kindnesskills.org](http://kindnesskills.org)” and please do all you can by walking and donating to the cause. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![TwoOnSunday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@TwoOnSunday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoOnSunday)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/26 "2005-10-18T02:36:44Z")
I’m 24 now. I had a friend in high school that acted exactly that way. I let it go until she turned 22 and decided that I couldnt hang out with her because it was embarassing. She was a fantastic friend one on one, but I had to stop hanging out wither her in groups because other people couldnt get past the baby talk, the covering her ears whenever people talked about a relationship, or pretty much ran away when someone had a drink, or did anything remotely “adult”. After avoiding her for a long while, we got to talk about it finally, and I was straightforward and specific (and tried to be non-judgemental). She told me a lot of stuff about her past that gave me a great idea as to why she acted that way, and she started trying to change what she could, and I grew VERY patient about it. We both took baby steps, if you will. Now we can have a drink, but I’m sensitive to the fact that she can’t stand when people drink to be drunk and don’t ask her to any bar crawls I may attend (there are alcoholic issues in the past) and we can talk about men and relationships without her cringing and covering her ears, (she also had been abused). Now, I feel terrible for judging her, but want to caution you that you can either let it ride until it blows up and you can’t stand to be around her anymore, or you can try to slowly discuss the most annoying stuff and see if that’s really “her” or the act she puts on to cover up other stuff. If it’s the real “Helen” then you have to decide if you want to still be friends. If it’s not, she may be incredibly happy that someone noticed. \*Disclaimer - I am NOT saying that because she acts that way that she MUST have “issues”. She may just have a more carefree approach to life than most, and sometimes we ALL need to mimick it. _Steps off of her soapbox_ ---
**Author:** ![TwoOnSunday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@TwoOnSunday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoOnSunday)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/27 "2005-10-18T02:36:48Z")
I’m 24 now. I had a friend in high school that acted exactly that way. I let it go until she turned 22 and decided that I couldnt hang out with her because it was embarassing. She was a fantastic friend one on one, but I had to stop hanging out wither her in groups because other people couldnt get past the baby talk, the covering her ears whenever people talked about a relationship, or pretty much ran away when someone had a drink, or did anything remotely “adult”. After avoiding her for a long while, we got to talk about it finally, and I was straightforward and specific (and tried to be non-judgemental). She told me a lot of stuff about her past that gave me a great idea as to why she acted that way, and she started trying to change what she could, and I grew VERY patient about it. We both took baby steps, if you will. Now we can have a drink, but I’m sensitive to the fact that she can’t stand when people drink to be drunk and don’t ask her to any bar crawls I may attend (there are alcoholic issues in the past) and we can talk about men and relationships without her cringing and covering her ears, (she also had been abused). Now, I feel terrible for judging her, but want to caution you that you can either let it ride until it blows up and you can’t stand to be around her anymore, or you can try to slowly discuss the most annoying stuff and see if that’s really “her” or the act she puts on to cover up other stuff. If it’s the real “Helen” then you have to decide if you want to still be friends. If it’s not, she may be incredibly happy that someone noticed. \*Disclaimer - I am NOT saying that because she acts that way that she MUST have “issues”. She may just have a more carefree approach to life than most, and sometimes we ALL need to mimick it. _Steps off of her soapbox_ ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Hello\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Lady)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/28 "2005-10-18T02:57:09Z")
IMO - you’re at a different stage to your friend so you are very aware that her behaviour is not the same as yours. Yep it’s a pain if she’s constantly acting like a 4 year old and if she is like this ALL the time I might even say there is a problem. Maybe next time she talks like a baby you tell her you don’t like it when she talks like that and see what happens. Hopefully she grows out of it. My hormones went crazy during my teens years so I can relate to mood swings and not knowing how to deal with them but she still sounds a little off the planet. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/29 "2005-10-18T03:33:59Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Freeze tag shmeeze tag. I’m 31, and I play 4-square whenever I get the chance to. Which, sadly, is not very often. Well sadly the 4-square “courts” were in the parking lot, so they’d only let us play there when the traffic was blocked off. -Lil ---
**Author:** ![Raging\_Catfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@Raging\_Catfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raging_Catfish)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/30 "2005-10-18T05:28:59Z")
> [@dare\_devil007\_](#): > > She thinks it’s cute to sing that “My Little Pony” song (and other kiddie show/commercial jingles/tunes, etc.) in the halls between classes and she bursts into class, waving her arms around and singing “La, la, la, la!”. She also goes up to anybody she knows and says, “Jesus loves you, [insert name here]!” in the most kiddie-ish voice possible. And she laughs really loudly (and for really long) at anything that seems remotely funny to her. With regard to this part I say let her be. Some people don’t enjoy adulthood so they should have some childish fun while they can. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/31 "2005-10-18T06:25:50Z")
> [@percypercy](#): > > Well sadly the 4-square “courts” were in the parking lot, so they’d only let us play there when the traffic was blocked off. > -Lil There’s this cool thing called “chalk” that I suggest you look up in Wikipedia… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/32 "2005-10-18T06:52:32Z")
Sounds like either half the customers that come into my shop have some sort of dire psychological disorder…or its just teenager stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/33 "2005-10-18T07:00:36Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > In an adult, that’s a problem. In a teenager, that’s pretty much to be expected. When I was a teenager I would have avoided such a person. I find it creepy for someone to just walk up to me and tell me “Jesus loves you, Marc!” I certainly wouldn’t want to be a close friends with someone who can’t keep her big mouth shut about all the friends she knows who does Y (I’d use X as my variable but that might get mixed up with something else high school kids might do). Most all teens are immature, by virtue of not being mature adults, but I think this girl is immature in relation to her age. I’m almost 30 and I still enjoy cartoons, I think the Wiggles are neat (or at least I did until they moved into that television studio), and sometimes I catch myself humming music from the Legend of Zelda circa 1986. Her behavior is pretty immature in my opinion. Marc ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/34 "2005-10-18T07:29:16Z")
That sounds like every single girl in our year… 3 years ago. If she’s still like that now yeah, she’s either immature or nutso. I spent most of my high school days avoiding people like that. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/35 "2005-10-18T08:05:57Z")
Yikes, I’m 32 and like to sing Disney songs at home. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/36 "2005-10-18T09:05:52Z")
> [@percypercy](#): > > The teletubbies was one of our favorite show in the Senior Den in high school. We also liked to play freeze tag and fruit basket turnover in gym class. > -Lil I found myself horribly fascinated by Pokémon at uni’ when age 23, _before_ I had tried any drugs at all. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/37 "2005-10-18T09:19:25Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > I found myself horribly fascinated by Pokémon at uni’ when age 23, _before_ I had tried any drugs at all. I’m 27, drug-free… and I _still_ play Pokemon. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Omnipotence\_Lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@Omnipotence\_Lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipotence_Lite)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/38 "2005-10-18T10:09:32Z")
Am I the only one amused by the fact that a thread questioning a 16 year olds’ maturity became a contest to see who is the oldest, cleanest (in terms of drugs, at least) person who watches cartoons or hums melodies from the greatest videogame ever made? ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/39 "2005-10-18T10:10:08Z")
16-it’s not a fun time for girls You realise that this is as tall as you’ll be, that your breasts aren’t going to magically grow overnight, bad skin is here to stay and the puppyfat won’t disappear. Oh yes, and you’re horny as hell, your moods don’t so much as swing as orbit, everything is LIFE or DEATH, popularity and attention is everything and by the way, you have absolutely no idea who you are yet. And yet…you grow out of it. Avoid her until she wises up and does likewise. ---
**Author:** ![Omnipotence\_Lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@Omnipotence\_Lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipotence_Lite)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656/40 "2005-10-18T10:21:50Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > And yet…you grow out of it. > > Avoid her until she wises up and does likewise. Ha! I do love the old “Act like it isn’t there and it will go away” mentality. Sure, this girl may have some problems, and I’m not saying 16 isn’t a hard time for girls, (even though I, as a male, have not had any experience as one) but I have a hard time believing that if you avoid someone for an extended period of time that they will be ready to be your friend the moment they reach a maturity level _you_ find suitable. Alothough i could be wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-normal-for-a-16-year-old/326656.md?page=3)