Wait now my opinion matters?

[jackfaire]

I hate that opinions I voiced when I was 16 that I voice now using the same arguments at age 29 that I did back then even worded the same are now treated as "knowledge you have gathered over the years".

For example at age 16 I hated that every adult felt they had the right to boss anyone around that was under the age of 18 as if all kids had to answer to all adults and if you didn't do what said adult, usually a stranger, wanted you were being an disrespectful punk.

At age 16 when I stated that opinion I was told, "Your just being an angry teenager"

Now that I am 29 when I state that opinion people, some who said I was just being an angry teenager, now agree with me and actually seem to hear what I have said.

We need to start listening to the content of what people say and stop glossing over the words used when the person is older. I have heard other adults nod knowingly at something that is an obvious line of BS simply because the person uttering them is older when if someone younger than them said the same thing they would be all over them for being an idiot.

By the same token if someone says something that is clearly well argued thought out and intelligent then the person's age should not matter.

[DrFaroohk]

I hate people with the mentality that just because their parents had sex before yours did, they have some sort of power over you. Fuck em.

[Greenday]

My dad used to try to use this all the time when I fought with him. Whenever I disagreed with his opinion, I was "too young to understand". Every time he disagreed with my mom's opinion, all of a sudden I was "old enough to make decisions for myself". Well, which one was it damnit!

[blas87]

Older doesn't always mean wiser.

Older doesn't always mean more mature, either. I work with people my parents' age and well older than that, and some of them act worse than my friends and I when we were in middle school.

[SorryIsGoodEnough]

I know for a fact that some of opinions that I have had for a long time are motivated by different things now. It's not that your opinion didn't matter then, it's just it was coming out of a different context.


It's the same opinion, motivated by different things, and received differently because of the context. I don't think age has EVERYTHING to do with it all of the time. It's just, and it's true, 99.99999% of kids and teenagers can't relate to an adult, so they shouldn't be giving ethics or morality lectures to people who've been around the block already.

[jackfaire]

so they shouldn't be giving ethics or morality lectures to people who've been around the block already.

I disagree. It may come from different motivations in some cases and it may not.

The fact that no adult has the right to boss someone around simply because they are under the age of 18 is based on my experiences as a teenager not my experiences as an adult.

My friend made a good point that wisdom is about life experience not years lived.

As far as the ethics or morality lectures I do agree they shouldn't but the adults shouldn't be giving those lectures either. Just because older people have been around the block as you put it doesn't make them better qualified to dictate their morals and ethics to me especially since most of those people are using the same morals and ethics they were taught as children.

Therein lies my point exactly if a 16 year old dictates the same morals and ethics to a person that someone 10 to 20 years his senior espouses people will act like he doesn't know what he is talking about.

[guywithashovel]

When I was a teenager, one of the things that used to bug me more than anything else was not being taken seriously. It used to bother me when people would treat me like a tiny little clown simply because of my age. Also, if I dared disagree with an older person on anything, I was merely a rebellious teenager who would someday "see the light."

[Slytovhand]

A) I have an anonymous Myspace thread - no personal details (but you have to insert a DOB, so I made it up) - thus, no such opinions can be formed from irrelevant details.

B) I talk to people like they're people.. age doesn't matter much. Sometimes there are general tendencies, sometimes great thoughts come out of young mouthes... and a lot of stupid from old ones.

Moral lectures?? Well, are they logicall consistent?? Are they effective? It's the argument that has meaning, not who says it.

If I can act like a kid, then kids can think like an adult!

[Boozy]

On the whole, the opinions I had when I was 16 were pretty naive. There are some things I believed then that I still do now, but for the most part my world view has changed. I've experienced and learned quite a few things in the past 15 years.

But I still don't believe that a teenager's opinions should be waved off like they were nothing. Even if you think a teenager is being naive, they should still be encouraged to share their thoughts. Not only are young people right sometimes, they also give us another perspective, and that's important.

[MergedLoki]

I still get that a bit and i'm 25. I mean k i was a lil punk when i was a teen.

but.. just cuz i went to college and work now doesn't mean my views have changed. Ok yes I can't spike my hair and wear a patch covered coat every day like I did 8 years ago lol but so? My views about the government haven't changed, and if anything I've grown more sure of my opinons because now i'm NOT just some 'dumb angry teen' I actually have knowledge to reinforce my ideals.

ok kind of off topic of your post TC as you've said it's been stated to you 'oh thats knowlege you've gained over the years' even if i's the same argument used back in teen years.

But my point i'm making is, if the viewpoint doesn't change then why is it all of a sudden 'knowledge' and your opinion is considered and treated with respect instead of being dismissed as it was years ago?

long story short i agree with what you're saying.

[AdminAssistant]

My opinions have changed so much since I was a teen. I was incredibly naive, sheltered, and downright silly back then.

[Dreamstalker]

I like to say that my first action if I were to procure a TARDIS would be to go back to when I was about 14-15 and give my then-self a good hard kick.

[jackfaire]

My opinions have changed so much since I was a teen. I was incredibly naive, sheltered, and downright silly back then.

Yes but the point isn't whether you were talking stupid back then but rather the fact that adults assume your talking stupid.

I could be talking about things that Socrates said and discussing philosophy at 15 years of age and many adults would act like what I was saying was stupider than the 25 year old discussing the philosophy of Beavis and Butthead.

[Dreamstalker]

I had a friend who, at 14, was much more mature/astute than some of the twentysomethings I knew then.

[Amanita]

I worked with a guy who was 16 years old, but acted like he was damn near 30. Intellegent, articulate, honourable and honest. I've met real 30 year olds with less maturity then he had.