Hate towards Early-year Teenagers

[Cyru]

I just thought I would bring up this subject, being a 14 year old myself, as it seems that any kind of object, statement, opinion becomes almost instantly invalid if the person behind the keyboard is an early teenager, and how a very small minority of 12-13 year olds have set a stereotype of all young teens to be completely and utterly braindead.

 

[Sydian]

Probably because most preteens/teens think they understand things when they really don't. And it is honestly annoying to see them say "oh I'm mature for my age" and how it's unfair to be unfairly judged, but you know what? If they're are mature as they claim, they need to show it, and complaining about how they're being treated unfairly doesn't constitute maturity at all. You need to show it, and people will respect you, regardless of age.

 

[Cyru]

But what I really hate is the fact that being a '12 year old' has become a derogatory comment, and any comment that has a very enforced opinion and goes into a Caps lock rage is an angry 12 year old?

 

[Nihilego]

Because any comment that goes into an angry caps lock rage probably isn't a very mature or sensible one and is more likely someone throwing a tantrum because they aren't getting their way. Exactly like what a kid would do.

 

[Oryx]

Probably because most preteens/teens think they understand things when they really don't. And it is honestly annoying to see them say "oh I'm mature for my age" and how it's unfair to be discriminated against, but you know what? If they're are mature as they claim, they need to show it, and complaining about how they're being treated unfairly doesn't constitute maturity at all. You need to show it, and people will respect you, regardless of age.

Oh wow I quoted this when it was just one line but I still agree with it.

The problem is that maturity isn't something that you look at yourself and say "look, I'm mature now". No matter how old you are, you'll look back on yourself in a few years and think about how immature you were, even if you considered yourself mature for your age. When I was younger, people would assume I was 5-10 years older than my actual age so I considered myself mature enough to be treated like an adult. But I look back now and see how immature I really was being on so many topics.

And it's not so much young teens in general as it is young teens that expect to be treated like adults.

 

[Sydian]

Because, unlike the word "gay" being used as a derogatory term for example, majority of 12 year olds do act out. They generally don't have well thought out opinions on bigger issues, such as politics, religion, or abortion. My sister used to get comments on YouTube saying "what are you, 8?" or something. It's just the stigma that lies with the age, really. However, people that have to dumb down to use those "you're a stupid 12 year old" insults are either 1) 12 themselves or 2) acting like a 12 year old themselves. I wouldn't take that insult, or any insult, as some big offensive thing. If someone has to stoop to the level of calling you a 12 year old, gay, retarded, or any of that, they're not worth the time and are ignorant of the word or phrase they used.

 

[~V~]

Well from experience I'm 20 and I'm still immature. How can I possibly expect a 12-14 year old to hold a mature conversation? Still I don't disregard someone's opinion based on age, but based on what the opinion is.

 

[mondays suck]

Well, from personal experience I can tell loud and/or obnoxious people rarely go unnoticed, and let's face it, even if it's not true for the every person of that age, the rate of that kind of behavior is significantly above average among them.
As mentioned, a reason for this could be a lack of life experience leading to (hormone-weirdness-boosted?) overconfidence, combined with often lacking moral values...

 

[jpp8]

Most young teens on the internet live somewhat sheltered lives with guaranteed security due to their parents. Most if not all do not have that much experience in the "real world" as their elder counterparts, so their opinions will most likely be tied to their own parents without justification, as opposed to their own opinions through experience.

My view anyway.

 

[Sydian]

It's almost like stereotyping people because of their age. Maturity doesn't always equal age, because there can be some 15-year-olds that are far more mature than someone that could be 25.

This is true. People need to judge by opinion and character, not because of age. If they're going to be the typical bratty 12 year old, then I'm not going to think highly of them. If they choose to act beyond that of a 12 year old, kudos to them, cause I think they'll go far.

It's also worth noting that, at least for me, the older we get, we look back on ages we've lived through and remember the stupid things we did then and we feel that we get better with age. I think that has to do with how people get this idea that everyone of a certain younger age is immature. When I see 14 year olds posting online or just irl, I can't help but reflect on myself at that age, but sadly, I don't think of the good. I only remember how naive I was and the mistakes I make, and it goes into how I feel about current 14 year olds, unless they do or say something that makes me think otherwise.

Additionally, this also adds into, I would say, protective parents, namely dads. Men remember what it's like to be a teenage boy, so naturally, because they've been there and done that, they're going to assume the guy that's dating their daughter is the same. This isn't in all cases of course, this is just common from what I've gathered.

 

[Jarred0809]

I dislike most of my peers because they are bratty, unintelligent, self-centered douchebags. The worst thing about it is that they are the majority of people my age. I do my best not to fit into their stereotype.

 

[Alice]

Yeah, it's pretty much because most 13/14 year olds act like they're really mature, and know everything, when they're still little kids in every sense of the word. Gets annoying after awhile. lol

I mean, I was the same way. I genuinely believed I was the most mature person on the planet, and hated it when people didn't take me seriously, or treated me like a kid... but there's a good reason for it.

 

[droomph]

Well there IS a meme about it

I think the reason is because people go through puberty (and consequently emotional/mental maturity) at different stages.

I personally went through the "awkward" phase from when I was ten to a couple months ago (haha completely different story) and so now when I'm forced to talk to someone I generally try to take the mindset of "uh..." even in an area that I'm an expert in (like procrastinating ^^)

And since people go through maturity mostly when they're ~12, the "arrogant" stage takes place then for most people. Others have already gone through that by age 12/13 so they probably have been mature for a couple years, and others are sincerely still childish until they're almost 21.

But I don't know anything about that stereotype, probably because I never bothered to check (I always tried to be humble on the inside so that's what matters) but I don't know, I could have been the biggest ******* around for about 5 years and I didn't even know.

btw What I like to do is just go around and make friends with people, and if they're mature I'll look at how old they really are ^^ fun times

 

[Timbjerr]

Because teenagers are never as mature as they think they are. Ever.

I can look back at some of the posts I made here on PC when I first joined (at age 15) and facepalm at perhaps 70% of them...especially ones in which I was performing some moderator duty or another and generally being an ass to lesser members. >_>

For me, maturity came with having to live on my own and know how the world works. I've definitely mellowed out with age and came to accept that not everyone can agree with me, but we can still agree to disagree. XD

 

[Ghiaccio]

Ah yes, I see what you're talking about, as I am 14 myself. However, I do see why most (older) people think that. It is because most of us are not as mature as we consider ourselves, just as many of the others on here have said. Like say, even one year ago, when I was 13, I considered myself pretty... If there's like a medium between immature and mature that's leaning more on the mature side that would describe it, but now that I look back, I see the stupid things I've said, the stupid things I've done, which all sounded good to me back then (although I'm kinda thinking now everything sounds better to themselves than it actually does). And then of course, there are also the people that fit that stereo type exactly. And for most people, it's not the good things that stick in people's heads, but the bad things. I remember when my band did something really stupid at the family night and our band director was lecturing us about this she used the example of how even if our school made hundreds of awards and such, but then there was a shootout at our school, which one would people remember more? It's a mix of these things that cause adults or older teens (who actually could still fall into the immature category, not trying to call any of you out though) to ignore our opinions. Also considering the fact that many people (not limited to any age group) are very... biased and one-sided and won't look at the bigger picture or accept others opinions, and the fact that this is probably even more prevalent in the teenage group, it causes people to ignore their opinions since pretty much the teen is already ignoring theirs. I wish too that the stereotyping wouldn't exist, but it is pretty much guaranteed to unless all teens somehow magically become... open-minded I guess and more stable in controlling emotions. Just keep trying to show that you're different than others then I guess, if you really are, then older people (the ones that don't act like the stereotype at least) should start accepting your opinion, or at the least hearing you out.

 

[Treecko]

I one reason is because they think they're cooler and better than everyone else and that makes them more mature in their mind. Teens that age like to copy older teens and believe that since that person(s) is mature then they themselves must be mature. When in reality, they're just pretending. Maturity depends on the person for example, I was very immature till about 17 when I realized I needed to grow up.

 

[ScottishNutcase]

I -as a 14 year old- consider myself immature on many subjects. My sense of humour, the way I act and think. Though it doesn't mean what comes out my mouth is all bull, because some of it makes sense -though most of it is still all bull- unless the point there trying to make, has hardly any back up and they aren't prepared to admit they're wrong, then that screws them over.