The Worst Things About Being a Teenager

[Catalie]

Don't get me wrong. I love being a teenager. However, there are a lot of pretty... interesting... things about being a teenager. Teenagers: Do you agree with these things? Adults: Do you wish you could be a teenager again? Here's my list!

1. Sleeping

The teenage body needs way more sleep than the adult body. However, the teenage body also likes to go to bed really late. That's fine, right? Go to bed at 1:00 AM and then wake up at 1:00 in the afternoon. WAIT! There's school. Yeah. That. School generally starts any time from 6:30-8:30 AM. So you are basically forced to wake up early no matter how late you go to bed, resulting in sleep deprivation.

2. Drama

I don't like to get involved in all of that drama, but sometimes I just get dragged into it. Susie told me that Rachel told her that Allison told her that Lauren told her that Jennifer told her that Lilly told her that you kissed Bob! Ugh...

3. Dating

Now is the time when everyone is getting into dating. With dating comes rumours. With rumours comes drama. And NO ONE likes drama.

Oh, and then there are those douchebag guys who will ask a girl out and then when she says yes, say "Just kidding!" Oh my god. I hate that.

Oh, and there are those girls who are known as being sluts because they KISS a guy (because it's highschool OMG KISSING! Who cares?)

Yeah, and the girls who can't get a boyfriend and get made fun of for that.

Oh, and the guys who are "players" and "fuckboys".

Dating. Is. Complicated.

Especially as a teenager.

4. Food

The teenage body craves food. A LOT of food. Enough said.

5. Popularity

As a teenager, popularity becomes important to you (and if not you, then important to those around you). It is all people care about, which causes kind-hearted people to act like stuck up bitches to gain popularity. Your friends turn on you and spread rumours about you all in the hopes of making a good name for themselves, and all they do is ruin your social life.

6. Self Esteem

Self esteem is at a low point in the teenage years. You start to doubt yourself and believe what other people say about you. You get depressed and feel like you have no one. You don't like the way you look and feel like you aren't good enough.

---

Let's end this on a good note: The teenage years are just a phase. Within a few years, you are an adult who is not just surviving, but thriving. You can be okay with as little as 5-6 hours of sleep, there is no high school drama, dating becomes more serious, your food cravings settle, life isn't a game of popularity anymore, and you learn to love who you are.

[btbc92]

I would love to be a teenager again, because I barely had the fun I needed with my friends. I've never dated and my interested were never on dating. Dating for teens these days is the wrong thing do on so many levels. This is a crucial stage in life where they are transitioning into adulthood unlike many generations ago, where the mindset of an adult was prevalent at ages 12 & 13, and I mean way before the 1200's. The issue I have is #6, I had great self-esteem. Self -esteem is not based on age or life span at all. It has to do with the individual person. Self-esteem lowers in teen years ONLY if they are involved in the wrong things, like I said, dating. You need real maturity to date at any given age. You can be in your 20's-60's and still be very immature. It doesn't make you an adult if you are not psychologically developed as a person.

#1 was always my problem because my internal sleeping habits is not the same as other people. I can sleep better during the day then I do at night, I have so much energy at night since I was a baby. #2 Drama is never needed if you are never caught up in drama in the first place. If you hate drama, stay out of drama. Period. That's what I did. You have friends who love so much unnecessary drama, leave them alone. Chances are you are less like to be in contact with them still once in college and after college. The friends who last longer are the ones without so much drama, everyone else is just there for a season. #4, no, just no. If you are constantly active maybe. But not every teenage is obsessed with food or becomes a glutton. If that's the case, that is just that person, not me and not the friends I had. Unless your on your period and your just craving for stuff. #5, please! Popularity is not my concern. I could care less who was popular or not. I don't play that competition game. If you stay out of all the things I've said, your teenage life will get much easier. Remember I said it get's much easier, not that it will. Not every bodies circumstances is the same. But do your best to stay out of it or else you will take it with you as baggage into your college life and your young adulthood years, and you want to know why your behavior is very off-putting and your doing stupid.

Best Regards

[Redstang88]

Enjoy it while you can. Life hasn't even started to fuck you yet.
You'll realize soon how insignificant highschool problems really are.

[skeptic007]

agreed

[LiveFreeorDieHard]

@skeptic007 yup, true there. Guys, be strong, enjoy life and wear condoms, girls are fucking crazy.

[Catalie]

Yeah. That's true.

[Spiorad_Aisce]

Oh My - It is so long since I have been a teenager that I have forgotten a lot of these - Every age group probably has their own list, the only big difference is an adult will internalise any turmoil in their head and there will be less drama outwardly. As I said every age group has their own issues but I can't leave without talking about (5) and (6).
(5) Popularity :- What is it a vague impression you are liked by people and are "cool" possibly with NO real friends. I would rather be loved by a few good friends who are there if I need them than admired by lots but if I am in trouble, I have no one to turn to if I am in trouble.
(6) Self Esteem :- How true is the saying "How can you expect someone to love you if you don't love yourself". You have heard the saying "Noone is perfect" , next time you compare yourself to someone seeing where you are not as good as them also add in the things you are better at than them. I am me, you are you, I am good at some things, really bad at others, I am sure it is same for you, everyone is unique with their own presence to add to the world. Everybody is special in their own way but no one is more special than anyone else.
Forgot to say, good job on take

[LeeDynastyy]

Awesome response! Thanks!

[Catalie]

This is a great response!

[Anonymous]

As a teenager myself I must say this is an accurate post. Ignore the old hags on here that have nothing better to do but minimize younger generation's problems. It's as if they don't remember being young. Yes, anyone with a good head on their shoulders should be able to realize that adult stresses (like making enough money to keep a roof over your head, no longer having a reliable support system like your parents to fall back on when life smacks you) are more SERIOUS than teenage struggles, but our struggles are still STRUGGLES nonetheless, and we are smack in the middle of developing the coping skills to deal with them.

I found that I didn't experience the true struggles of a teenager until I turned 16. That's when I definitely got a lot more adult responsibilities and began to spiral down the road of anxiety, feeling overwhelmed and incompetant, not to mention the confusing struggle of wanting to fight for independence yet simultaneous feeling uncapable of handling it properly.

That's also when I began to actually notice/pay attention to the media and societal expectations (despite my best efforts not to). I found myself recognizing how silly and ridiculous trends are yet simultaneously being sucks in by them. From falling into the craze of drawing on "perfect" eyebrows (a craze I had always mocked), to hating my tiny hips because what guy wants such a skinny girl? It sucks, and its still a constant battle that I find myself losing quite a bit.

I can't wait until I'm old enough to objectively look back at my teenage years and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. But I certainly won't mock the next generation of teenagers because I will try my best to remember just how emotionally and mentally draining this time has been for me.

[Hopefuldreamer8]

I don't miss being a teen at all. I wouldn't want to do it again. I like being an adult. Although, the drama doesn't end just because you're done school. It's not High School drama, but there are plenty of adults out there who like to cause it. Although I find it's easier to handle as an adult then I did when I was younger. Years ago for some reason at work, the older ladies hated me. They were in their early 50's and I was about 23. I don't know why because I am shy and I keep to myself. These three ladies were out to get me and saw me as weak, and it got to the point that I just switched shifts.

My body is still like that when it comes to sleeping. I need a lot of sleep still, and I like to be up late. I can't function on 5 to 6 hours of sleep. A lot has changed about me since I was a teenager, but this is something I've always needed. Other people I know are good with less sleep. One guy I work with works two jobs and only gets four hours of sleep. I don't know how he works 16 hours with 4 hours of sleep everyday.

The rest is pretty spot on. I was depressed and stressed most of my teen years. I really haven't been as an adult. I remember people telling me that if I thought I was stressed then, I wouldn't like being an adult. Sure I have more responsibilities, but I love them. I can't think of the last time I was stressed. I'm always happy. My 20s were definitely better than my teen years, and I am sure my 30s will be great too.

[redeyemindtricks]

Sleep is sacred, in our house. My husband and I are both, uh, "graduates" of some CRAZY severe sleep problems -- so bad that neither of us can even function on normal 24-hour days.
(I sleep 3 times a week, he sleeps 5 times a week... most weeks. Yeah, it's complicated. But, we lost basically 0 hours of sleep to our little babies, total, when our little babies were little babies.)

Our oldest son is your age, and, if he is sufficiently sleep-deprived, we just let him sleep in. This school year, I've already made up 5 fictional "appointments", on days when he just couldn't. LOL
I'd MUCH rather have him get caught back up on sleep than make it to whatever first/second/third period classes that he'd just doze through anyway.

What's wrong with #4, tho?
Girl!
Just wait until you crave those amounts of food, but you'll actually get fat if you eat them!
Shitttt
<3

[mimmy]

All of these have happened to me at least once!! I've had girls spread rumours about me and my boyfriend and I've had popular girls pick on me I've been bullied for 1 and a half years now and I'm fed up of it! I'm only a 13 year old who has the rest of her life to live and may be on the track of committing

[Catalie]

Yeah I can totally relate to that!

[mimmy]

It's so upsetting to think that I could be dea in a few months time! Hope everything goes well for you

[John_Doesnt]

The worst thing about being a teenager is not knowing that every adult is laughing at how trivial their "problems" are. Every person who has grown out of being a teen knows that those years were far easier than anything in adulthood.

You're gonna grow up one day, look back at this article and laugh at how you thought these things were such horrible problems.

[Catalie]

Oh trust me I know that these problems are NOTHING compared to the actual problems I will have when I'm an adult. But I've actually been through a lot (not these problems, actual personal ones) and I know how it feels to have real problems. I probably will look at it and laugh, but being a teenager, I am less ready to handle real world problems, so these ones seem worse.

[John_Doesnt]

The actual lesson I'm trying to teach you is to enjoy these years while they last and also to take your current problems way less seriously. Especially the popularity, drama and dating. Cause as soon as you leave high school none of those people will matter to you ever again.
It's like the Stevie Wonder song "I Wish" he sings about how he wishes he could go back to the easy days of being a teenager.

[Catalie]

Yeah. The popularity, drama, and dating definitely aren't a big deal at all, but depression, self esteem, and sleep deprivation can lead to real problems.

[DarkIndividual]

The drama, dating, and popularity have never been issues for me. Even when there was drama around me, and between my old friends, I stayed out of it. I've never dated anyone, so that doesn't bother me, and the people in my school are laid back so they don't really care. Last but not least, popularity is complete garbage. I saw people who were popular in middle school, but now that I'm in high school I cannot seem to find ANY.
Since I'm really quiet and introverted, nobody approaches me. I get talked about sometimes, but it always dies down when they realize I won't react to it.

[DarkIndividual]

I was too lazy to blend those things together. I just used a bunch of random sentences. I'm tired. The sleep thing is my biggest concern.

[JRICHARDS1996]

Those things actually seem pretty small.

To me the worst thing about being a teenager was the growing amount of responsibilities that parents place on your shoulders to prepare you for adulthood combined with the total lack of adult privileges. In other words, they want you to do the work of an adult but they don't want you to enjoy yourself like an adult. And whenever you point out this evident hypocrisy, they really have no excuse. They are simply too afraid.

[PizzaGuy22]

Lol @ dating

I can't take anything serious if our parents have to drop us off at the movies and consider it a date lmfao

Waking up sucks true but oh well we all gotta do it

Drama is easy to avoid so...

How is craving food bad..

I wasn't really popular or well known in high school in fact I was a quiet dude in some classes but a class clown in others.

As for the self esteem part well I never really felt depressed, I just thought I was doing alright with school and life or whatever

Being a teen was pretty cool for me

[PizzaGuy22]

Oh wait I still am one lol

[MissKylie12]

I was about to say...

[MissKylie12]

Being a teen has its issues- you forgot to mention acne (or maybe that falls under self esteem?). I had it bad for about five years but now that I'm in the last phase of my teen years and finally contacted a dermatologist, I'm in the clear (haha). But for me that was such a pain and I'm trying now to find good things about a teen now that I can focus on the other areas of my life. And now that focus is COLLEGE so that I can have that freedom you mentioned

[Catalie]

Oh yeah acne is a really big one.

[godfatherfan]

yea, you have the first one backward. Your body needs much less sleep when your young. When I was a teen I could stay up til 4am, get up at 7am and be fine all day. Now if I have my way I will sleep 12 hrs. That doesn't mean you can't get yourself to sleep longer. But if I don't get at least 6 hrs now I am drained all day. oh for the younger years.

[Catalie]

Your body tends to like to get a lot of sleep. You don't need it necessarily but your body doesn't like to wake up.

[redeyemindtricks]

Absolutely wrong full stop. The older you get, the less sleep you need, period, end of. That's not even contestable.

[godfatherfan]

@redeyemindtricks actually it is really really really contestable. not being able to sleep, and not needing sleep is very different. Sure my parents and grandparents seem like they are up at 4am every day... but they are constantly napping and falling asleep at 7pm also. it is an illusion. your body needs a lot more sleep when your older.

[redeyemindtricks]

I mean... no. Just all the no.
sleepfoundation.org/.../...12615[1]-page-001_0.jpg

Find me ONE credible authority that agrees with you on that.

[Anonymous]

Uh I totally know all of that I mean I moved to nine primary schools because of bullying ( I wasn't running away I solved it and moved on ) and my Mum wanted me to have a fresh start so we moved back to where we used to live and then I became friends with these two bitches and they ended up spreading rumours and making at least three quarters of my year level hate me ( so 3 hundred kids no joke ) and then my parent told me they weren't together anymore AND my best friend my only friend moved schools. I am still at this school but exept it is much better this year I am happier than I can even remember and I even am able to stand up for myself now so yeah not that anyone really cares I just thought I would share:)

[Random_Joe]

All of these are so true, but I think the worst thing about being a teen is how controlling your parents can be. Like, controlling to the point of psychotic. If my parents found out that I even go on this website...
It'd be a fate worse than death...

[26ukdude]

I thought being a teenager was bad, but the things you think are a big deal aren't. The things that ARE a massive deal like a roof over your head, food and warmth are allready there for you being provided by parents or those who care for you. In 10 years when you have to deal with real world stuff on your own you'll see what I mean...

[notbrxthing]

my school starts at 7:30, however the buses pick us up between 6:30-6:50 and drop us off at 7, so we have to sit around in the school for a half an hour until first bell. it sucks.

[Catalie]

Ugh that sucks

[xxcchhllaauu]

what's bad about being a teenager still young to the unfair wold not knowing the expectations

[Catalie]

Except that in and of itself is bad.

[Anonymous]

Being a teenager, I'm pretty much living what you described. I had a boyfriend that last for two days, I have one friend, but thankfully I'm homeschooled so I don't get the rumors. And I get to get up later but I still like to stay up late

[NatashaJ]

You forgot in dating cheating and abuse that can occur.

[Catalie]

That's true, but that happens in relationships of all ages, not just teenagers.

[NatashaJ]

Yeah but going through abuse and cheating is probably one of the worst thing to go through anyway.

[PizzaPrincess]

Only ever had problems with 1, 4, and 6 tbh. The rest I've avoided. But those three have been pretty bad.

[ScorpioMoonChick]

Just wait until you're about 20... I was in a hurry to grow up, and I wish that I wasn't.