i'm sorry to sound like an angsting teen, but seriously. i've had more than enough of stuck up middle aged people who think they know everything just because their birth certificate is a bit more dated than mine. sure, you experience crap, but it doesn't mean you know how everyone who is younger than you feels. it's kinda like, okay, since you're 40, you can be a total asswipe because everyone has to respect you.

PARENTS. jesus christ. i love my mom and dad but you'd think they suffer from superiority complexes or something. when they CONSTANTLY pick at me, yes, i do talk back. i'm sorry if it comes off as rude and disrespectful, but seriously, older people have nothing on you except for a few memorable experiences and maybe some more classes they already forgot. if you piss on someone and tick them off , i pretty much think you get what you deserve.

you can't say 'oh, they are wiser,' because i honestly find most younger people (mostly certain teens) who are more open minded and understanding than people of past generations will ever be. i just don't think age is an excuse for anything like respect. i'm actually kinda a hyprocrite and do treat these kinda people sweetly/respectfully but ugh. D:

RANTRANTRANT

Yes.

Some 24-year-old on Neopets had the nerve to say that since I was only 14 years old I should be respecting her since she was right.

She started mouthing off that this guy got scammed when he made a board saying he got hacked. I shouldn't have to respect some PMSing adult on Neopets, of all places.

ugh ok whatever open mindedness and understanding = / = wisdom

i dont know about your parents, but i can admit my grandparents know a HELL OF A LOT more than i do.

pats your head and walks back out

and wisdom = / = age. ignorant people can come in all forms and shapes and sizes.

...i sound like such a bitch right now D=

Dear GOD, it frustrates me so fucking much when people talk down to me just because I'm a teenager. To be completely honest, I can understand where they would get the idea that a 16yo girl wouldn't understand anything about current events outside Lindsay Lohan's latest escapades, but vibhuuiotyn.

I'd really appreciate if they would at least give me a chance to prove that, yes, I DO know who Nancy Pelosi is.

I hate it when my parents tell me I have it easy. Uh have you experienced my life? Maybe try getting up at 6:30 every morning going to school until 3:30, then going to work until 9:00. Then they can come talk to me. They also believe that school is easy, my dad tells me it was much harder back in the day... even though what I'm doing now is what he did in college.

I see two sides of it. Personally, I treat people according to the age they act, not the age listed on their ID. I've met tons of younger people, even 10 year olds who act respectful and mature, and I treat them like one of my peers. I've also met tons of people my age and older who act like screaming two year olds and can throw spectacular tantrums, so I treat them accordingly.

Still, most kids don't have the experience that older people have to back them up. I'm 23, and consider myself to still be a "kid" on most levels, so I'm not saying this because I feel that at my age I've somehow acquired more wisdom than someone in their teens. Most adults I know, even the ones I don't like, have been through a lot more than I have and at some level I have to respect them for it. That doesn't mean I respect you less for being younger than them, it's just that people like my parents have gone through a hell of a lot more in their 50 years than I have in 23. I may have gone through more difficult shit in some respects, but not in all, and I have to give some credit to them for having a few more decades to base their knowledge on than I have.

yeah i can under stand they know more and are smarter but assuming i get drunk, do drugs and have sex every day just because im a teenager is really unfair if ANYTHING goes wrong people blame it on the youth because we can't exactly fight back because then were being rude and cheeky meh I'll probably grow up and do the same thing though, but every one's opinions matter, regardless of age

I can see both sides. They are older and have seen alot more crap then we have. When I'm "legal" (18+ College ready) I'm getting out of my house as fast as I can! My mothers husband is very into the whole 'respect' thing, and I don't think he realizes that respect comes from respecting, so when it comes down to it, I have no respect for him. I mean, I'll always respect adults judgment, I'm a singer so I have to listen to what my voice teacher tells me I need to work on. Its difficult to know what I'm not good at cause I want to be the best! But, when my moms husband (Paul) is angry he says the most cruel things. A couple nights ago he told me my voice was terrible and off tune (which it is not. If it was I wouldn't be on backup list for the highest choir in my HIGH school) so now I have no respect for his opinion ever and that's because he himself ruined that. And I wont ever respect his opinion because he has no respect for me. Its two sided. And I think the criteria for respect grows every year, I respect my mom plenty and she still tells me I have no respect for her.... =/

I'm 47, and I can ASSURE you that my mother and stepfather know TONS more than I do. My mother brought me into this world, raised me for 19 years and she damn well DESERVES my utmost respect.

grumbles about whiny little teenagers who are certain that they do indeed know EVERYTHING

Edit: Even though my own daughter is 19 now, on the rare occasions she slips and swears in front of me or her dad, she apologizes. ;)

i have to agree with . perhaps the parents have an inability to articulate in a way their kids can understand... but really, fault can lay on both sides of the line.

i wish i could be there when each teen that feels this way becomes a parent (or middle aged). ^_^

You just epitomized the whiny teenager.

I don't know about older people in general, but your parents probably deserve respect for more reasons than that. They provide you with everything that you need, and most likely many of the things that you want. And your mother carried you around in her uterus for nine months, and then popped you out of a three inch hole. She deserves a lot of respect for that alone.

Yes it does to some extent.. Lets not forget that your brain is not done developing where as your parents (and mine) is. Therefore we have more wisdom because we dont have the "it cant happen to me/ I'm invincible" mentality..Your less equipped to make good decisions cause you cant see the consequences and further down the road.. Sorry if that ticks you off but you cant argue with science ;)

If it makes you feel any better in about 4-5 years you will look back and think.. "God my parents werent as stupid as I thought they were.." and "How the hell could I have done that..so risky."

wow this got some comments ;o; trust me, i do give people respect, but it doesn't mean they deserve it. my parents, i'm on good terms with them most of the time, but seriously, they, like 90% middle aged people i know have this belief that they are ALWAYS right and it's near impossible for them to be wrong.

all i can say is i'd rather be open minded and know what i'm doing in the world than be old and close minded 'and wisened from experience'. not saying that all older people are like that and all young people are perfect and know everything.

contrary to popular belief, not all teenagers are cut outs of lindsay lohan.

ignorance comes at ANY AGE. there are some dumb teens and some dumb adults.

teens notice dumb adults. adults notice dumb teens.

thus the cycle of life.

I'll go on the record as saying this: age isn't and shouldn't be the only criterion on which to base respect--the way one treats me or how I observe they treat other people is my other basis of respect. This is why I have a hell of a lot of respect for my grandparents and my mother. They've always treated me, my friends, and even strangers with a lot of respect, and their experiences have helped me through my own. This is also why I have very little respect for my older brother. Sure, he's older, but he's disrespectful to everyone he's with.

Respect is a two-way street, and you gotta meet in the middle. Or at least near the middle.

i personally don't respect anyone who doesn't respect me, despite of their age yes, this includes older family members

my grandma, for example, thinks i'm a piece of shit because my father is i eliminated any form of respect towards her a long, long time

BUT, i'm polite towards those who i don't respect

like my teachers on college, almost all of them are assholes and bitches and yet you will never, but i mean NEVER, see me say or do anything that they might find insulting/annoying etc.

As some has said, I can see two sides on this story as well.

For one: What I can understand is the whole respect thing. Everyone, regardless the age, should be respected for what he or she is (barely any exceptions). That does not mean you have to agree, just be respectful. And yes, those adults should be respectful to you as well. They did bad not to. I also agree with the whole "wisdom = / = age" up to a certain level, though you gain wisdom through experiences, and experiences come with the years. I believe a 14 year old CAN BE (=/= is) more mature as a 30 year old sometimes (though sometimes that is due puberty and trying to act all grown up, but not always of course).

The other side of it? Maybe it is easier for me to explain in through a quote: "Prejudices are what fools use for reason.". A lot of my point is stated in that quote. So I will not continue rambling on that.

And I also agree with WinterFae her last paragraph. In a few years you might look back at this and realize your parents (and a big part of the other adults along) had a point when they criticized you with something you now think they did to pick on you. In general (!): Parents are not evil creatures designed to make your life miserable. Most of the parents actually mean well with their kids, and sometimes they have to sacrifice their popularity with their kids for it. The only thing is: some kids do not see THAT point of view sometimes (again: not all kids, but some)

To be on "your side" again: some parents just do not know how to handle it. Even though they mean well, they show it in wrong ways and might do start "picking". But the picking is no real picking. I still believe in most cases they do not really mean bad. Though some kids sometimes think they are THE exception while sometimes, it isn't. But that is another discussion.

As we're busy with it anyway, I also fully agree with laughing_dragon. So no need for me to repeat that :)

Another thing: Being openminded has nothing to do with this in my opinion. I consider myself being fairly openminded, but that doesn't mean I am any little bit more wise as my grandmother. She might be hooked to her standards and morals, but if I hear her story she has good reasons.

So in short: I agree with your topic title, but as I read your explaination, I agree with it from an other point of view I think :)

I totally agree. I'm 23 and I still get stick. My boss is a pain sometimes but she's still a good boss to have. Sometimes though, when I'm not feeling very well she will suddenly pipe up "You're young. You haven't experienced child-birth, you don't have arthritis and you haven't been through the menapause and suffered from heavy periods. As if a 23 year old woman doesn't have heavy periods. I've had them since I was twelve.