>Hi Kevin,
>
>>>Kevin,
>>>
>>>>PMFJI
>>>
>>>PMFJI PMFJI.. <g>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Whatever age you may be you should be yourself. Do not worry what others may say or think about you. Put your energy into advancing yourself.
>>>>
>>>>Come on Tom, that's so easy to say when you're grown up and gone through that "stage", but lets be honest here, no-one (and I don't care who it is) would listen to what you've said and be expected to take it in being in between the ages of 14-19, there's too much pressure on teenagers these days, they feel they've got something to prove, and it's to other people, not themselves.
>>>
>>>Absolute baloney!
>>
>>>Kids today typically have no idea whatsoever about life's pressures.
>>
>>That statement is correct, however, the point I am making is that you are not currently a teenager, you are a grown man who has vast experience of life. Teenagers will "feel" they've got something to prove, whether or not that is the case, a teenager will feel that way - and that's a fact!
>
>Your mistake here is that you seem to be presuming that after one leaves the arena of "teenageer-dom" <g> that they forget what it was like. I haven';t lost my sense of what it was like to be a teenager, I've added to those experiences. Does that make any sense at all? I know what it's like to be a teenager - I was one. Ask my wife and she'll tell you I still am in many ways. <g>

That's fair enough, no-one forgets what it's like to be a teenager, but you could never put yourself in the same state of mind again can you? You may remember, but you can't just suddenly switch just like that.

>>
>>>If you are fortunate to have grandparents, oh, say, 80 years old or above you should ask them about the pressures of life growing up. Worldwide war. Worldwide depression. No money. No work. No place to live. Nothing. And they didn't sit around like a bunch of whiners.
>>
>>>I know I sound more than a little harsh here Kevin but I'm trying to make a point. Today's children for the most part don't have a clue IMO of what a tough life is. I don't think I had a tough life even though I was adopted, mom died on my 9th birthday, my step-mother wouldn't let me in my own home, my dad dying of cancer when I was 15, an older brother was (as far as I know) murdered in drug-related matters, being thrown out of my home by my step-mom into a foster home when 16 and so forth. A lot of kids think they have it tough is they have to show up at work on time.
>>
>>I'm not saying that kids have a tough life, I'm saying that kids won't listen to anyone but themselves, they have to learn life as it was intended for them. Put it another way - "Easier said than done"!
>
>Ok.. This I can buy. Is this why it's been so hard to get you to listen to me then??

Lol! You wouldn't be far wrong, I, myself have got a lot to learn yet :)

>*gd&rvvvvvf*

What does that actually mean?

>However, I do think that there has been a tremendous loss of parenting skills over the last 40 years and teenagers have suffered horribly as a result.

Oh definitely, my personal view is that there are too many unwanted pregnancies occurring and the mothers/fathers tend to be caught off-guard, resulting in bad parenting, but that isn't always the case, a small percentage will cope, but the rest won't.

Maybe parents are too laid back nowadays, I got the belt if I misbehaved, and I've never thought it was harsh treatment.