Teenagers deserve respect too

Chris-london, you are obviously a well educated and intellegent young person.I am in the same generation as your grandparents,as I agree with every word you have written I really believe that your age group are the group that can really make a difference to our society today.Theres not much point in us old ones passing comment to Lewis H,s generation as the majority of them take no notice anyway.However, although us oldies will continue to do our bit Im afraid its left to the likes of you,and indeed Sarah (the sender of this gripe) together with your friends to try and do your best and get us out of this downward spiral..
Best of luck,and well said. Regards..

Sadly Lewis H I'm the generation above yours as I'm 10 years older than you and am damned sure you can't tarnish me or even those 10 years older with that brush. So lets see, at 13 you feel you have a good grasp on political history, well done but sadly you have a limited grasp of what you refer to. Wars are a thing of history going back thousands of years, so which generation is to blame? Are you to blame for fights at school? so lets get back on track here. What is the generation standing in gangs on street corners in hoods, hmm I believe they're aged 12 - 24, our age range! Violent crime and murder all over london and the south east, lets see biggest offenders are aged 14 - 25. Do the elderly sit swearing at each other on buses? Do they have their ipods on full volume playing music for their mates on buses, trains and tubes? I don't think so.
But yes you are right we are a generation or generations instantly at odds with older ones, but then we don't help ourselves. Instead of showing we deserve respect we abuse those who don't give it. And as for cfc's we all know most people are not scientists so didn't develop green house gases.
Energy issues, destruction of rain forests, killing of animals, are a bi product of so many major international companies. Mobile phones, mp3 players, pc's, laptops, ipods, games consoles and tv's are not environmentally friendly and I bet you have at least four of those named. So what part are you playing in the destruction of the world? And your only 14! Still think you're faultless? Think again! See the bigger picture.
Many people died to give us freedom. Many people died for an ideal that you just rubbish. How dare you. You should be ashamed! We have so many freedoms that innocent people died to give us. Don't abuse their faith!

To Lewis H - I would be interested to know if you are convinced that your generation will do any better, (or worse) than earlier generations? What do you believe my, earlier, generation does that yours will change? How do you think your generation will bring about these changes?

Respect can come from having the strength to spell out your ideas and have them criticised. Lets hear what you have to say. Will the vast majority of us have to accept either a lower standard of living or a significantly less comfortable way of living as part of your solution, for example? If we will then you could meet resistance, or criticism.

Might employment laws have to be changed to make your solutions work?

Methinks Lewis has been "hoisted by his own petard"...

Grow up soon, little boy.

I guss it would be easy to say that if you give "respect" then you will recive "respect" but that is all just a big lie. When has anyone ever noticed that you respect them for what they did or said and them did the same for you? Well I would have to say from my own experience that, that never happens. If you know what I mean. But then again everyone is diffrent, and everyone has their own opinion, and that is just mine.

it all went bad when we stopped being allowed to thrash the ignorant sods - six of the best is what they need

Teenagers don't automatically deserve to be treated like yobs. If we look upon every teenagers as having no morals and as being destined to a leading a life contrary to social norms, this often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The answer, then, is to treat each teenager as an individual, for that is what they are. There is talk of teenagers being mindful of who brought them into the world, but we must remember that they will bring the next generation. If today's teenager's feel that they have been treated unfairly, they might impose the same attitudes and reactions on tomorrow's teenagers.
Respect is a learned value, just like every other. To give respect, we must all have be on the receiving end of it. Looking back, if I had been judged because of my age, I would now consider that an insult to not only myself but also my parents, who taught me well to ensure that I have been polite, hard working and responsible for myself since a young age.
Everyone deserves credit and respect for their positive actions, young people and adults alike. No teenager is perfect, of course not, but neither is any adult.

Well said Meg, I could,nt have put it better myself.Lewis obviously has,nt thought about which generation is responsable for his very own existance.

Dear Lewis,

I suggest you get your backside into class and instead of making (allegedly!) smart a*rse remarks to remind your teacher of how clever you are and how worthy of respect you are, you pay attention. In particular to your history class. Which generation is it that you assume I belong to? Which war/s do you think my generation started? Which ones do you assume I necessarily condone just because of my particular generation???

At 14, you know next to nothing about anything very much. Your experience of life in the big bad world outside the cosy den of your gizzmo filled, parent supplied, bedroom is close to zilch. Typical teenager. Assumes he knows best based on no facts at all. Like I said. Try buttoning it for a few years until your ACTUAL wisdom, maturity and experience comes anywhere remotely close to what you mistakenly believe them to be.

When you have achieved something with your life other than a few lines in back chat to some doting teen pals or some stressed out teacher; when you have some qualifications both in school - and out, when you've earned a living and supplied your OWN gadgets for a while; when you have been successful at ANYTHING other than trite nonesense on a web site and when you don't need mummy and daddy to survive, come back and play with the adults. Until then grow up and stop whining, because I tell you what, if you think like is tough for you right now, you do not stand a chance in the big bad world waiting for you just outside your bedroom.

"Why do teenagers "deserve" respect? Can somebody please tell me? Your average 13 year old say, am I just supposed to respect them...... just because? I respect people who earn my respect. Sadly, teenagers seem to think they are due respect for absolutely no reason other than blessing us with their very existence. All "rights" and no responsibilities. The majority need to grow up and stop their snivelling "me me me" moans."

Because they're human beings? Maybe we shouldn't respect pensioners "just because." Maybe we should respect disabled people "just because." No one should have to earn your respect, you should respect them enough to realise that not every single teenager is out to earn YOUR respect SPECIFICALLY. You should respect EVERYONE. Sadly, adults seem to think they are due respect just because they have been alive for a longer period of time. All respect deserved but not given. The majority of adults need to pull their heads out from their ***es and get rid of their pathetic ego-inflating lies about how they have it so hard. Hey, "meg," which generation of people dumped CFCs into the atmosphere and created a massive hole in the ozone layer? Which generation of people is wiping out species of animals faster than any other period of time in the history of the earth? Which generation of people started wars that killed millions and millions of innocent people? Which generation of people? Hmm? Oh, that's right. YOUR generation. And you think YOU deserve OUR respect? Yeah, right.

I want to respect teenagers like, but when they all talk like Ali G there's just no hope like! Ya know what I mean?

Give me strength.

Why do teenagers "deserve" respect? Can somebody please tell me? Your average 13 year old say, am I just supposed to respect them...... just because? I respect people who earn my respect. Sadly, teenagers seem to think they are due respect for absolutely no reason other than blessing us with their very existence. All "rights" and no responsibilities. The majority need to grow up and stop their snivelling "me me me" moans.