Did you know that today is April 15th, National Tax Day, and there are 30 million Americans yet to have their taxes done? I was running around this morning getting ready, the news was left on from my parents previous watching.. and I over heard this. What a thing you know? I guess it goes to show we're a country of late taxes, fast food, and seven elevens. But hey, I'm not complaining.. I'm one of the ranks of teenagers who currently need 'god' in their life, which would be according to the religious section of our population, 'the cure.' Then we have the other half who are so determined that we need to be 'buckled down'. We just need to learn to not talk back right? Those are the odd portion of our population that are convinced discpline with that good ole paddle needs to be stuck back in the school system. Then we have the caring side of our population, who belives that we are all individuals of pain, hurt, and misunderstanding. Prosiac, zoloft, and xanax is just the oh-so-perfect cure to any problem that might arise. But what can arise if you're too upped on pills you can't notice it? Then we have the smaller portion of our population, who believe that the root problem to teenagers today resides in the children. We need to be slapped up with riddlin because we just, "move too much." So in a country of religious fanatics, hardcore discplinee's, therapists, and medical specialists.. what is really wrong with the youth of today?
I've got an answer for you.
Nothing.
We chose to be this way because it's that way. Perhaps I can't speak for the larger portion of 'we.' Because I do consider myself sheltered to a degree. But I do co-exist in a highschool community where I see more illegal activies here then I do when I watch the news at night. Drugs, sex, harrassment, insults.. here is the go around. Nothing is too lude here.
I mean, come to think of it. I believe that it was my choice to make friends with an assassin. I believe it was my choice that I started to cut. It was my choice to stop talking to my mother. It was my choice to become addicted to the computer. It was my choice to change my image into something else. It was my choice to change music tastes. It was my choice to put on eyeliner this morning. It was also my choice to use the restroom this morning. [ give me leeway.. even though this activity is involuntary.. ] We make choices.. but it just so happens during our teenage years.. the choices become a little less.. oh...whats the word I'm looking for here. A little less, important. Or we overlook a very important decision and slap an answer on it like we do when we walk blindly into standarized testing and fill in those pretty little circles.
So either the decisions we make are either too miniscule to adults to matter, or are so large that we overlook it and the adults notice that immediately.
We choose to be who we are. There's nothing more simpler then that. What's beautiful is that when you're a teenager... you don't have the mind of a child, you know what's going on, yet you still try to act dumb and go, "What, you're the adult..?!" When not a second later we ask for you to just give us a break and give us freedom, we're being surpressed!
As we are decision makers at this age, we are very indecisive decision makers.. might I remind you.
So give me liberty or give me death. Right. That should be a teenager's slogan... not.. because then half our population would be dead.
But the basis point here? Of our late taxes, fast food, seven elvens, relgious fanatics, hardcore discplinee's, therapists, and medical specialists... we produce life that will be just like us, only we hope, better. It's a choice you make to have that child, who will inturn make choices soon after. That's all life is.. a series of choices that you just don't see the scantron for when you fill in the bubbles. It's rather verbal really. Things that will always be certain in our lives are.. those invisable test of choices, the standardized tests in school, signing your life away to a bank account, taxes, and death. And that's the closing story.
Courtney