"I'm pretty tired of adults telling me how stupid teens are"

        In an interview, the author John Green replied with, "I'm pretty tired of adults telling me how stupid teens are" when asked whether or not the characters he writes about are "too intelligent". It can be frustrating for teenagers when they are told that they have the incapability to be intelligent and understand the 'grown up world'. Obviously, due to our young age, we most likely do not have as much wisdom and experience as those older than us however our lack of exposure to the world can-to a certain extent-help us to form original thoughts and opinions without negative outside influences. A while ago I was intrigued by this letter which someone sent to their regular newspaper about their recent articles:

        I thought that this letter was brutally honest yet completely correct. Teenagers are bombarded with the stereotype that they are lazy and moody and are not quite as human as the rest of the world. Numerous investigations are made into the adolescent mind and various methods are suggested to parents on 'how to deal with it'; but there hardly ever seems to be research into the minds of parents and how teenagers should deal with their attitudes and behaviour. Yes, teenagers are going through drastic changes with both their body and mind however we are all developing as we grow at all ages.
        We are also taught not to be interested in politics as it's 'too complicated' but we are then labelled as lazy for not being knowledgeable about the political world- even though it is mainly the youth who have been involved with recent protests around the world and spreading awareness through social media. We are the ones who are striving for social justice and who are demanding revolution yet the ones who raised us are trying to degrade and devalue us.
        Teenagers and young adults are at the age where they start to create an identity and realise many flaws in the world around them and adults should be encouraging perspectives from younger people and also showing them the potential greatness of the world around them instead of belittling their thoughts and knocking them down. As cliché as it is, we are the leaders of the tomorrow and so I believe that we should be treated with more respect and not dismissed simply because we haven't been as scarred by life as much as the grown-ups have been.
Fozz.