Carey Dillinger, July, 1994
The Daily Commercial
After devoting the past 20 odd years (and I mean odd) to the study of how the teenage mind works, I am ready to present my findings. In no way are these observations to be considered anything more than the stereotypical generalizations that they are.
First, teenagers don't think you know anything worth knowing, while their vast array of knowledge is like, you know, unfathomable to the ancient mind of anybody over 25. Unless, of course, their boyfriend is over 25.
Two, they cannot stand it if you try to speak their language. Try it sometime with the neighborhood teens and see what happens. As soon as adults start using their slang they change it. Now here is a little trick for you parents out there. Does your teen continue to use some slang phrase that really irritates you and refuses to desist even after repeated warnings? You start using the same phrase over and over again and within two weeks it will gone from your child's vocabulary.
C, Their clothes can look like something that Rambo threw away, but they will still complain about your outfit, even if it is new. They will not own anything permanent press but neither will they iron their cottons properly, preferring that just slept in look. By the way, their clothes have that just slept in look because they were just slept in. This eliminates that distasteful morning procedure of getting dressed.
IV, They pay little or no mind to details. Test them with this column. See if they notice the dumb way I've been counting these observations. Don't worry if you didn't notice yourself, that just means that you have something in common with your teenager after all.
5,Their concept of history is last Friday night and their vision of the future is next Friday night. If you ask a teenager how he spent his summer vacation he either won't remember or will refuse to tell you because his parents took him somewhere he thought was geeky like Cypress Gardens, Washington, D.C., or Aunt Matilda's.
As an adult you can imagine my surprise this past May 27th when a teenager blew my 20 years of research to pieces. Here are just a few of the things she told me.
Concerning the fall of the Berlin Wall: "This event proved that barriers between people must never exist...remember this and work hard to build bridges rather than walls in personal and international relations."
The Challenger disaster: " the ingredients for disaster are cutting corners, faulty and hasty testing, ignoring of recognized problems and valuing profits and deadlines more highly than is warranted."
The collapse of the Soviet Union: " the reason for the existence of government is to serve not enslave its people."
The passing of Richard Nixon: "We ought always to hold ourselves and others to high ethical standards. This is our right and duty. But, may we always be willing and quick to encourage and to forgive one another."
With regards to the environment: " Our (the teenage) generation is now more aware of and knowledgeable about environmental problems. We have learned the importance of such things as recycling, cleaning the air we breathe, and stopping the pollution of our waterways...The problems of Earth-care are not the fault of a single generation, and no single generation can solve all of the environmental problems completely. Yet the lessons of Earth-care require the best in us in living unselfishly. Like planting an acorn, most of what is done environmentally is done more for the future than for the present."
She concluded her comments by saying, " History has always been a great teacher, even if humanity often has been a poor student. People who have been wise enough to learn from their struggles, to stand together in their efforts, and to be strong in their convictions have dramatically increased their prospects of survival. This group of minority thinkers and doers have worked hard and courageously, if not always successfully, to hand off an improved version of the world to the next generation. I only hope that when the work of our generation is over, our children and grandchildren can proudly and truthfully declare of us: They 'fought a good fight, have finished the course and have kept the faith.'"
Yes ladies and gentlemen these are the thoughts of a teenager, born and raised in Lake County Florida. To tell the truth, I don't know many adults that think as clearly or with as much vision as this young lady. I do however understand how she became the co-salutatorian of the Leesburg High School class of 1994 and The Daily Commercial Female Academic Athlete of the Year. Her name is Amy Brooks and she has proven to my colleagues and I, as well as her classmates and teammates, that good things, make that great things, can and do come in small teenage packages. The things she said to me, she said to the other 3,000 people in attendance at the Leesburg High School commencement exercises this past May 27th. Everything attributed to her in this column are words I took from a copy of the salutatory she delivered that evening. As I listened to her speech, I did so with mixed emotions. On the one hand I was happy to find a teenager actually ready to enter adulthood and on the other hand sad to realize that many adults will never achieve the wisdom of this teenager.
One final, albeit selfish note. I am disappointed that I never had the opportunity of having Amy in any of my math classes, I'm sure I would have become a better teacher given the chance.