Similar thing happened to me the first time I attempted to The Ring. :eek:
That’s the whole point. Posting on a message board that TEENAGERS as a group are obnoxious, does not rise to the level of racism, homophobia, religious bigotry etc. It’s ludicrous (and offensive) to say that so-called ageism is equivalent in any way to actual racism, homophobia, and/or bigotry.
People get killed for because of their race (Mr. Byrd), their sexual orientation (Mr. Sheppard), and their religion (6 million Jews ring a bell?) What happens to teens because of “ageism”? They get kicked out of the movie theater for being jerks? Daddy takes the car keys away? They can’t get in to the “cool” clubs downtown?
Fucking grow up and join the real world.
Er, I’m with you for some of this, but I meant to imply that, though some words on a message board are likely quite harmless, it can still be appropriate to cry foul. I’m not quite ready to apply the Domino Theory to a message board.
Fuck you, if negative stereotypes are created about several groups of people, should it matter which has it worse to judge wether or not the stereotype is bad? NO
Blacks and teenagers are both worthless
Jews and teenagers are both cheap
Gays and teenagers should be locked up and “fixed”
Just because people aren’t serious enough about their stereotypes to actually imprison/murder teenagers, its perferctly OK to label them like this, just like any other racial/sexual group?
Fuck you.
We really have to remember that a group of unsupervised teens attending a movie may behave quite differently than a group of teens (perhaps even the very same teens) setting out for a day of helping build houses for Habitat. Even really good kids forget their boundaries under the right circumstances–freedom, a few bucks in the pocket, loud friends, popcorn, whoo! The trouble that could occur boggles the mind. Put a couple of not-so-well-taught, perhaps not-so-well-behaved kids into that kind of setting, and some kind of trouble is almost inevitable.
Personally, I love teenagers–loved teaching them, loved working with them, loved watching them develop their ideas and opinions and interests and above all, learn to express all of that in a way that would get adults to respect them. I truly believe that having the opportunity to be a part of that journey was a blessing and a gift for me.
All that said, having to sit behind a group of them at a movie, or encountering them as they take over the sidewalk on their skateboards, can be intimidating, irritating, or downright infuriating, because–I am still learning to accept this–sometimes they don’t appreciate MY coolness as much as I appreciate theirs! What the hell is wrong with them?!
Being a teenager is a helluva hard road sometimes, and some kids have virtually no guidance beyond noncommital parents and uninterested or annoyed-with-teens adults. Some of us are good and devoted parents, and even OUR kids might get loud at a movie. I like to think my kids are respectful and kind and open-minded, but put them into a group setting with other kids who might not be quite so wonderful in some respects, and who knows which attributes will be the first to go. Kind of scary when you think about it.
I just continue to hope that what I teach them at home carries over–if not right away, at least eventually.
Ok, now you’re just being an idiot. “ageism” is not equivalent to racism, or any other “ism” for that matter. See, being a teenager applies to everyone, equally. I was teenager, and I was obnoxious. You, apparently, are a teenager, and you are obnoxious. If someone of the opposite sex ever deems to have sex with you (doubtful) and you have a child, said child will grow up to be a teenager and also obnoxious. Not all the time, but definitely obnoxious. One way or another, all teenagers are obnoxious. Sorry to break it to you this way.
Comparing what you might call “ageism”, (i.e. stereotyping teens), to racism is patently offensive. Please just stop.
Why? Teenagers can’t control how old they are, same way black people can’t control their race, etc.
Rexdart, I’m almost 16 years old, and I think that the behavior of those girls was innappropriate. I would never say something like that; yet I am only slightly older than they are. You really can’t just say that all teenagters are worthless human beings, because not all of us are. I willingly admit that there are some pretty worthless teens; however, there are also some pretty worthless adults. Before condemning all of us, how about talking to some other teens? A group of immature girls in a movie theater isn’t a fair sample of teenagers.
What does that have to do with anything?
Good Lord, what ARE they teaching in schools these days? Apparently not history. Anyway, there are very serious, even deadly, consequences of racism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia.
“ageism” has no comparison. What are the consequences of “ageism”? What, exactly, is the complaint?
P.S. How long before school vacation is over? I’m guessing Jan. 6th for most. Can’t wait! 
But, I’ve been doing this for 4 years already…?
Well gee believe it or not, I do know the history of anti-Semitism and racism.
My point was that both racism and ageism are discriminating based on something that can’t be helped. They’re basically the same thing. Just because racism has a much worse past than ageism doesn’t mean that it’s any less offensive or ‘wrong’ than racism is.
Uh huh. Do you at least see that a Holocaust survivor, or a relative of someone who has been murdered for being black or gay, might have a problem comparing the two?
Racism and “ageism” are NOT basically the same thing, as you so blithely posted.
You are going back to school when?
Teens, as a group are pretty obnoxious.
Individual teens are swell - some of them are a joy to be around.
That being said, I cring when a large group of teenage girls come into the cosmetics counter I work at and start gabbing on their phones, opening the packages, dumping stuff on the floor and leaving it, sticking stuff in their purses,screeching at the top of their lungs, and generally making royal pains in the ass of them themselves.
For the record, occasionally, an adult does one of these things too; however, it happens much less frequently.
The only redeeming thing you can say about obnoxious teens as a group, it that generally they grow out of it.
I grew out of it - now I only occasionally dump crap on the floor and screech accross a crowded store.
It boils down to this.
Rexdart comments made in your OP would ill found and ignorant. Ok I understand you were using hyperbole to make a point, but that doesn’t matter, you were still being ignorant. It pissed off quite a few doper teens who make a strong effort be good people. Yeah I agree that the girl in the theatre was an idiot. But shes an idiot because shes and idiot, not because shes a teen. Not every kid aged 13-19 is a worthless human. People don’t suddenly start being jerks at their 13th birthday and stop at their 19th. Jerks are jerks regardless of age. Saying that everyone in a certain age group is automatically worthless is wrong. Making any sweeping generalization about a certain group is wrong. I don’t think you came here wanting to offend people but that was the result so don’t claim that you have every right to generalize.
So a poster makes a claim about a group of people based on a bad experience with one of them. This one poster makes you so upset that you are now disapointed with the whole board.
Gotcha.
Stereotypes hurt when they are related to you. I’m a teenager and I do as much as I can to contradict the stereotype being discussed (that teens are worthless and obnoxious).
What this girl did was obnoxious. Obviously the obnoxious teens stand out from the crowd, and those are the ones on which people base their opinions.
Then there are those like matt_mcl and Mirror Image egamI rorriM and I who do contribute in the community.
With the view of further breaking stereotypes, I list some of my credentials for “worthiness”.
- volunteering at camps for disabled kids
- raising $1500 in the last few months for medical research
- volunteering teaching kids to abseil
- volunteering at camps for kids with cancer
- former secretary of Interact SCHOOL BASED version of Rotary Club
- last week (or so) I sold tickets at Brisbane Carols by Candlelight to raise money for disadvantaged people
ExamplePerson has weird experience while out walking. Decides that this experience is so weird that they’ll come to the SDMB and tell people about it.
ExamplePerson writes title of “World is a weird place” and posts said experience, exaggerated for effect and entertainment value.
Half the SDMB decide to be uncharacteristically pedantic about an irrelevant fact in the post, to wit:
“How dare you say that the whole world is a weird place! I happen to know many parts of the world are not weird at all, especially the parts I have direct contact with! I demand you retract your statement at once! I have put you on my mental list of ‘Members whose posts are no longer worth reading’. You are not worthy of being a human. Repent immediately, though I shall still dislike you.”
You ARE kidding aren’t you Wearia? Adolescence is all about being a jerk and getting away with it. All sorts of behaviours are experimented with, and thankfully by the time they reach 19 or so, most are cast off as being too ‘juvenile’.
So, yes people DO suddenly start being jerks at 13. It has been the main complaint of parents throughout the eons, and IMHO, this current crop of adolescents are by far the worst on the obnoxious scale. I feel that kids have an over-inflated sense of their own self-importance and in general have little or no regard for traditional ‘authority’ figures. Where once a kid would have feared the consequences of being a jerk (punishment from parent, school or the law), these things hold little deterent effect nowadays. Kids now consider themselves the peers of adults, and IMHO, this is NOT a good thing.
Sorry to offend with my generalisations, but tough. I have had enough experience with adolescents to stand by my opinions.
Ok I agree with you somewhat. Yes, kids are having a lot more freedom then they should these days. Yes some abuse the freedom. But some don’t. And people are losing sight of that. As demonstrated in the OP and by several follow up posts many adults seem to think that teens are all dimwits. Its stereotyping. You can’t do it to blacks, you can’t do it to asians but for some messed up reason people think its alright to stereotype teens? I’ve been accused of shoplifting when I have done nothing. I went into a store to look at something I needed, I took it off the shelf, looked at it and put it right back. I was confronted and accused of stealing. There were people all around looking and grabbing things but just because I was a teen I get accused of being a criminal. The very act of stealing sickens me. The fact that someone could have such ill contempt for anothers property that they deside it is ok to take it for their own sickens me. And there I am, in a store being accused of stealing for no reason other than being who I am. And the reason I’m being accused is because this shopkeeper hears stories from people like the OP and assumes its alright to accuse teenagers of theft because there all worthless and disrespectful anyway. So yeah it pisses me off to hear crap about how because I’m a teen I’m a idiot that has no respect for anything. I don’t give a shit whether your exhagerating to make your point, someone is liable to read it and take it for truth and thus make life harder for those of us worthless teens who try to make something of ourselves.
As far as your so called “experience” with adolesence goes I assure you, I have more experience with my generation than you do. I’ll tell you as a fact that there are a lot of good decent people. Its a shame you have yet to meet any of them.
Sorry if I came off a little harsh in this post but I’m really trying to make my point.
Thank you wearia, you explained the position I stood for perfectly. I was just a bit too disgruntled with milroy to describe it properly.
About teens feeling equal/peers to adults, once kids start to realize how stupid people can be, it starts to make them feel a bit higher.
FTR: I despise the teenager girls represented in the OP and how they create these awful stereotypes, I think it is extremely rude to talk in a movie theatre regardless of age.