#1 Thing Teens Wish Their Parents Knew About Them

As a senior this year, I get unsolicited advice from my parents on a daily basis. I get advice about things like not procrastinating, picking up my clothes, and how to save money. With all these things my parents want me to know, I decided to ask my friends what they wanted their parents to know about them.
 
The number one thing my friends said was...
...that we need to make our own mistakes to learn from them. We understand that you want to keep us from learning things the hard way, but that’s how we learn things best. You warn us, but we still have to experience it ourselves in order to really learn from it and correct it.
 
Things have changed since my parents’ generation. When we’re texting, on the computer, or using technology, they think we’re isolating ourselves, when we’re really not. While they talked on the phone or sent letters, we just text. We’re actually in touch with our fiends even more now. We don’t have to worry about them not picking up the phone. We communicate instantly now.
 
With social media, we’re also more in touch with the world. That’s how most kids get their news these days, whether it’s accurate or not. Word spreads faster now. Every status, every breakup, it’s all instantly shared with hundreds of friends. Instead of standing in front of the lockers, these days we just post a status.
 
We may listen differently, but be assured, we are listening.
 
Contributed by Andy Creek, student at Fern Creek High School and Teen Reporter for Today’s Family magazine.

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