Our text glosses over adolescence, so this assignment is to read an article in
Psychology Today (a magazine that began when I was in college) regarding adolescence, from the perspective of both the parent and the teenager. Read the article and respond with a comment online (remember, the entire world can view your piece).
Lazy Adolescents??
Some questions to answer in your assignment:
- Why do some adults think teenagers are lazy?
- Are parents justified in thinking this way?
- What is your experience during this time with your parents? Did your parents recognize how busy your world was (is) with stuff that's actually very important?
- How would you respond if your parents bugged you about not doing enough?
- If you're a parent of a teenager, respond to the above accordingly?
At the bottom of this post, enter your response by clicking on "Comment" button. You may need to create a new Gmail account, or you can use an existing Gmail account, AIM (AOL), Yahoo, OpenID or other listed account. Your post will be visible to all in class (intentionally!) and worldwide.
Sign your response with your full name so I can give you credit and others can know who's "talking". Feel free to respond to another classmates comments, also!
Due next Monday!
Some adults think that teenagers are lazy because they do not do what they want when they want them to do it. Just like parents teenagers have busy days to. They have to deal with differrent types of situations all day in school. My experience with my parent was the same until she realized that I had a lot of things to do just like she did. If my parent bugged me my parent and I would have to have a talk. I would let my parent know that i am not ignoring her to let her know that those things can wait because they are not that important compared to the things that need to be done.-DESTENI ADAMS
ReplyDeleteSome parents think teenagers are lazy because we don't do what they tell us to do, and instead we do something we want to do like watching t.v. or getting on the computer. They think it's so lazy of us to sit down for an hour or so in our day and try to get a rest from our stressful day. I can see where they are coming from because they had a stressful day at work and want to take it out on us by making us do the laundry or dishes and when we don't want to do it we get called lazy. But isn't that lazy if they tell us to do a parents responsibility, just because they had a hard day at work? Luckily my parents have noticed that I was busy when I was in high school because I had homework, practices for sports, and a job. They wouldn't bug me to do the dishes because they weren't lazy either. My mom would come home from work and do laundry, take the dog out, and make supper because that is what was in her schedule of things to do. Everyone can get off a few times with being lazy just as she did if we would go out to eat during the week because she didn't feel like cooking, but it's respectible not being lazy and complaining.
ReplyDeleteTara Fought
Some adults find their kids to be very lazy because when they get home from school they just sit around. But they don't think about what went on that day, how many tests we had, or how late we were up the night before studying. Our parents don't always know about how the teacher got mad at you today, or you got in a fight with your friends. A lot is expected of us as teenagers. We have a lot to do in high school as we prepare to move away from home to be on our own. Holding a job and keeping up with school work and applying for colleges. I remember having some very stressful days in high school. There was always something to be worried about and something to do next. Then you get home and your parents start bugging you about this and that. It's not easy. And with so many things to do, we choose the most important things that really need done and that we want to do, not the cleaning. My parents thought I was lazy sometimes when I got home from school until the end of my sophomore year. It was then that I got a job and started working a lot of late hours after school. My mom still asked me to do some cleaning but when it didn't get done, she wasn't as upset because she understood I had a lot to do. I was very blessed in having such understanding parents. However after they asked me so many times, they started to get frustrated. I notice that it is when your parents have to ask you 3 or 4 times to do something that they start to get really irritated. If my parents ever bugged me about not doing anything then I would get frustrated. I do a lot and I would tell them that. I would explain in little detail about how I have school and homework and work and I'm tired and have to be up early and on and on until they finally leave me alone. But, most the time my parents were pretty understanding of my busy schedule and saw how hard I worked. Not that all situations are that way, some teenagers may be lazy, but this is how my teenage years went. -- Erin Demko
ReplyDeleteI think some parents feel as if teens are lazy because they don't actually take time to look at the bigger picture. They know their kids go to school but they feel like that where their duties end. They don’t stop to look at whole issue, they ignore the fact that because their child is in their adolescent stage of their life that maybe they may be obsessing over little issues and of course high school is filled with gaining and losing friends which at the time seems like the worst thing ever, but because a parent has had years to mature may have forgotten those times compared someone who is living through it now. It does have the tendency to burn you out, running here and there, texting back and forth, doing homework, and going to work, when you get home all you want to do is just rest for a minute without having to hear yelling and nit picking every five second. Parents are too quick to jump to conclusion without seeing the whole spectrum. Their thinking is not justified because they do the something the go and work all day long and when they come home they want to rest, as would anybody, so why is there day so much harder than say a teens day? I think my parents knew I was busy but they always thought there was more to be done, and I did a lot of things myself, but there was something asked of me frequently and I would put it off until I could actually do it, I would of course hear a little yelling, but it got done when I got to it. I am all too familiar with these talks with my parents, I heard the same one every day and could probably recite it, if asked, but I guess it didn’t harm me to listen. I don’t think they knew how important everything was to me they just knew to them and in their views school came first. If my parents were to bug me, I would ask them if they knew what all I had to do which would probably spark a debate of some sort, of who had more to do and then I would end up doing what was asked in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteBrooke Carstarphen
Many adults feel that teens are lazy becuase it is a different generation. Teens today have so many technological advancments that they can use wich makes life easier. Many adults did not have any of this technology when they were growing up, meaning that they had to do everything on their own. I believe that parents are not justified to feel this way. Parents are often the ones who let their teenagers get away with their "lazy behavior," so the parents are just as much to blame. My parents do realize that my life is very busy. Yes, sometimes they might think that i am lazy, but they know that i also have a lot going on in life with work, school, and my social life. My parents know that the times have changed and my generation does not have to do as much as they might have done. - Anthony LaMancusa
ReplyDeleteBeing a parent, I had to take some of the respondsibility for my childs actions (laziness). This was because I chose to clean up behind her while she was that busy teenager who had so many other things to do. Yea right!!
ReplyDeleteShe was my only child and I guess that played a big part in my decisions. However, when I was growing up things were totally different. My parents didn't allow me to be lazy. I had three other siblings and we had chores to do, and back then it wasn't about speaking up for ourselves or talking back to our parents the way some of these teenagers do today. I see alot of teenagers who need to be more disciplined and taught respondsibility. Being respondsible is something that must be instilled in a person, especially during those teenage years. However, parents must also realize that teenagers are going through what I'll call their identity phase of life and this can be masked as laziness. For the most part I feel that parents need to stay stern and set boundaries, and teenagers need to find balance and learn to set priorities. Dawn Brooks
Most adults think children are lazy because of the way we live our lives. Times are a lot different because are parents have paved a way for us. For example both of my parents have steady jobs and master degrees, there parents never made it past high school. My parents have become successful enough that I do not have to struggle as hard as they did. It is the adults choice to be justified in thinking this way, but because of what they had to go through it made it alot easier for the younger generation to not have to struggle as much. My parents do not think i am lazy. On some occasions i might have lazy characteristics but overall I am not lazy. I work a part-time job everyday and also attend school everyday form 6 to 6 so i understand what it means to work hard. If i was a parent of a teenager i would do everything my parents have done. The best way to let your child know it is important to do what you need to survive and be successful is show them with your actions. -Desmond Davis
ReplyDeleteI think for some parents, they don't realize that school is like a full time job for their kids. we sit at school for 6+ hours a day and have homework and other school related activities afterward. I didn't have any study hall/period in school and played lacrosse and was in some form of band and on stage crew in high school, but when I got home after practice of sorts around 5 or 6pm, my mom was upset with me about not doing laundry or leaving a mess somewhere. There are many students like me who don't have time to sit down and think until in the afternoon or evening, the same time most parents do the same thing. Not all teens are busy like i was and maybe they are lazy, but parents, before they get mad at their kids, should think about what their teen does at school before they call them lazy.
ReplyDelete- Athena Hill -
I think that adults believe teens are lazy because they don't do what's being asked when their parents want them to do it. I think it's okay SOMETIMES to say that teens are lazy because I sometimes don't do what my mom wants me to do simply because I just don't feel like doing it and I know eventually that she'll do it. But majority of the time, I be extreamly tired. Things such as school, jobs, and trying to stay socially conected with my friends drains all the energy to do anything other than fall into bed after a long day. My mom is just starting to realize that being a teen is not so easy at all. We've made an agreement to minimize all the fuss and disagreements by not expecting a lot from each another and do what we can for one another to make life so much easier on the both of us. (Nyshia Ware)
ReplyDeleteI think adults think teenagers are lazy because they feel like they don't accomplish as much as they do during the day. Like a parent goes to work all day while the teen goes to school and maybe participates in sports. I think in a way parents are justified. I know that as a teen I didn't do as much as I should have around the house and whatnot. Some teens really are lazy, while others aren't. I guess it really depends on the situation. My experience during my teens with my parents wasn't bad. I of course didn't get along with my mom, but what teenage girl and her mom don't get along.. Other than that it was not bad at all. At times my parents saw how busy I really was. During my senior year of high school I was going to school, working and playing sports. So I was never really home and when I was it was to eat and sleep. When my parents told me I wasn't doing enough, I just tole them I would start helping out more, and I usually did so it wasn't that big of a deal.
ReplyDeleteLauren McDermott
I think some adults think teenages are lazy because they don't see what a teenagers whole day is about. Parents only see what they do at home. Teenagers only tell their parents what they want to tell them. Most parents don't know about the fight they had with a friend or the 3 projects they have due in a couple days, they don't see all the stress.
ReplyDeleteParents are justified in the way they think because they just want things done. If teens just listened to their parents they wouldn't always be on their case. I also think, however, that parents need to be a little bit more flexible and let the teen get everything done in a timely fashion.
My parents are very flexible. My parents understand that i have a job and that my schooling is more diffucult then what kids my age have to do. They do have their days when they go off about me not doing enough around the house, but for the most part they don't.
I don't really fight back with my parents. They are just as stressed out as me so i let them yell. As long as i get everything done that i'm suppose to they don't get angry.
-Erin Zito
A lot of parents think their teenagers are lazy, but are they really around them enough to make that kind of judgement? Most parents are at work while their kids are at school or doing sports, and after that the kid wants to go out with their friends, so by the time the parents get to see their kids, the teenager has had a long day and won't want to do anything. Some teenagers are out right lazy, but the good majority of them have their own lives to live and cant be expected to live both their own life and the life their parents want them to live. My dad has been very good at understanding this and has always been reasonable with letting me know what he wants done while giving me my own time as well.
ReplyDelete-Robby Hannan
I feel that some adults think that teenagers are lazy because when adults ask a teen to do something they most likely put if off and do what they want to do first.
ReplyDeleteParents have the right to think that their teen or teens are lazy, but at the same time they don't have the right to think that way. Yes they have the right because if a parent ask you to do something, out of respect, you should do it. No they don’t have the right because sometimes teens are just tired from school, practice or other life activities and need to chill a little, then they can do what their parents asked. My experience with my parents during my teen years was simple, do what you are asked. I did what my parents asked me to do because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to get money, or have fun with my friends. If I had a long day I would let my parents know, and they would just tell me to do it when I get a chance.
If my parents bugged me about not doing enough, I would asked them why they think that and show them I am doing as much as I can do.
-Znobia Seawright
i feel as though some adults view teenagers as lazy for a variety of reasons. Mainly, i think adults feel as though teenagers have everything at their fingertips in terms of technology and privileges that they did not. Many adults grew up without cell phones, computers, calculators and many other "luxuries" we as adolescents have today. Adults feel that they worked for everything, utilized books, made friends and got along fine without facebook, and in general lived a different lifestyle. When our parents and other adults grew up, they went outside and played, or worked on cars. There were no video games, nothing to watch on tv, no reason to sit on the couch all day. I think our parents and other adults are justified in some ways for feeling this way. As people age, they grow stuck in their ways and tend to stick to their opinions. Parents and adults feel like teenagers should work hard just as they did. They see some teenagers that do not and label them as lazy. I don't think my parents would ever label me as lazy, they taught me to hold my own and if i wanted something i would have to earn it. I have demonstrated to them that i could earn a paycheck and be a contributing member of society so to speak. My parents have always realized that i had a lot going on and respected my involvement in school, work and other activities. i think parents will always have their opinions, whether positive or negative, just as teenagers or adolescents do.
ReplyDelete- Scott Christiansen
Adults think teenagers are lazy today because of how different we have been brought up and how the time period is completely different than what they lived in. When adults were younger, there means of transportation involved either a bus, walking, or a bike. Most house holds only had one car and usually whoever was working would have that car. Also, when they wanted to ask their friends to hang out or go to the mall, they would ride their bikes over or walk to ask them rather than texting them or sending a message on face book. Adults also believed that they earned what they worked for. Today, teenagers rely to much on parents buying them their clothes, phones, shoes, and ever necessity they need. Adults had to work for what they wanted back in the day rather than getting it handed to them. I feel my parents are both this way and not. I have been brought up to know that we have better ways of transportation and needs today but also to respect what we have. I do have a car that I share with my sister which she is currently using for senior year in high school. If I come home on the weekends, I am aloud to use it if we agree on sharing time. I also have worked jobs for many of my needs and also have had my parents help pay them. My parents believe that to an extent, that we can be lazy and helped out. But if it comes to the point where we are demanding or ask for everything that’s when they draw the line. My parents do have a sense of realization that there is more important things the world needs and our family as one than just a single one of our needs. I have been told I do not do enough around the house and honestly most the time, I don’t change what I do. I think this reasoning is because how teenagers are being brought up thinking everything is given to them. I know that I will not be feeding off my parents for the rest of my life, but realization is the hardest part for teens today. If I was a parent of a teenager, I would honestly be raising him or her the same way as my parents raise me meaning do spoil them a bit but also make them realize that it wont be this easy always. I would tell my teen to do stuff to help but if he doesn’t listen, I cant force him at this point but to just keep telling him its not always going to be this easy. I am personally starting to see the real world better now and how everything is not given to you but given by earning it.
ReplyDeleteBrandon Wypasek
Parents think adolescents are lazy because they don't understand how much more pressure is on them now then when they were adolescents. Things have changed over the years and adolescents have more and more responsibilities as time goes on. I am an adolescent and I don't think my parents fully understand sometimes how stressed I get and how much work I have to do for school. So in short, adolescents aren't lazy, they just have a lot on their plate.
ReplyDeleteDrew Malinowski
timfridrich@gmial.com
ReplyDeletesome adults thinks that teenagers are lazy because they see how they act and do work and that's less then what they did when they where growing up. not all adults are justified in thinking this way because it douse not hold true to all teenagers some teenagers do jest as much if not more then what the adults did when they where teenagers. i think my parents don't under stand some of the stresses that i am going throw but they are always welling to help if they can.if my parents where bugged on me about not doing enough i would be made but after the fact i might think about what they said and see if i can change there therts. all and all i think some teenagers can be very lazy but most of us are just like everyone else and working as hard as we can but thows that are lazy paint a bad pitcher for everyone else.
timothy fridrich
Some adults think teenagers are lazy because they are only seeing things from their point of view. They are reacting to what they think and see and not what they know and understand. The author makes a great point that adults are just as "lazy" as teenagers in the sense and mindset that article expresses. Teenagers do have a lot to do in their lives beyond just the worries of school, relationships and jobs. Teenagers are still trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be and what they should do. Adults have already had time to work on that. Ultimately Adults think teenagers are lazy because they do not have close or good enough relationships with their children to understand the pressures and responsibilities that the adult has forgotten from when they were a teen. The adult in these types of situations seems to be detached from what their teen is doing in life and demanding a performance from their teen, throwing the relationship that they could have for a transaction of balance and checks by the parent. The parents that repeatedly come at teens with the "R" talk are not justified in any way in treating any relationship in this form. A loving parent not only provides financially and gives direction to their children but also should have a real interest in the person of the child, who the child is. A person can only hear the same things so many times and if you really want someone to understand the import of what you are saying or suggesting and they don't seem to get it time after time there has to be a breakdown. That would be the logical conclusion. Why is this not getting through to the teen? It's deeper than just instruction and reasons why you should do something or act a certain way. If someone is not picking up or getting on board after such conversations there is something else that the parent needs to understand about the world of the teen. Some parents maybe so into the teens performance than with relating to them. Or, the parents maybe disengaged from teens lives like mine were and again the parents don't really know what's going on in the life and person of the teenager.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to deal with a parent coming at me accusing me that i was lazy i would try to talk with them about what i am going through but parents don't have the luxury of teens willingly engaging in conversations like that. The parents need to start conversations like that. If they don't and keep harping and nagging the teen bitterness and other like feelings could emerge and grow toward the parents by the teen because they feel like the parent does not understand and may think that they don't want to. If the teen is already having difficulty in feeling understood by their peers, siblings, and teachers the parents are just another who "don't really know me" the kid thinks. Situations that culminate like this and grow to this end in a teens life sometimes leads to suicide. Parents have the ability to drive the teen into the ground or understand the teen and grow in a relationship with them nurturing and actually guiding them.
Neil Wonderchek
Society is rapidly changing in modern America. I believe that alone is the reason some parents believe their children are lazy. As said in the article, kids today have different trials and tribulations from what their parents did 30 years ago. While some teens truly are lazy, others are simply trying to work their way through the obstacles in a fashion that didn't exsist when their parents were teenagers. In another sense our parents parents probably considered their kids lazy, and perhaps is just a parental phase that every family goes through. Personally, my parents always told me I didn't do enough work around the house, when in reality, I constantly worked on a solid GPA, and a heavy part-time job. I did my best to meet their demands (not always to par with what they wanted). But today, I feel that I handled their complaints properly, and I also believe they feel the same way. Overall todays teenagers will work just as hard as their parents did providing for the next generation as needed.
ReplyDeleteNathan Chambers
Parents think teens are lazy because we don't do what they ask of us right when they ask. Parents need to understand that we need our time to relax just like they do. But teens are deemed lazy if we take a chance to sit down after school and do our own thing for a few hours. School is more stressful for students today then when parents wet in school. There are standardized test, and more class requirements. So when teens go go
ReplyDeleteE we like to just kick back and do our own thing for the night, just like our parents do when they get off of work. So
Stones I believe parents like to push some of their responsibilities of onto us.
Samantha Baxter
The article hits all of the correct points for it gives you a play by play of a typical teenagers days to day life. It is extremely stressful for me beinga student akong with working 4 to 5 hours after school at my job. THEN coming home only do continue with school work along with showering and doing everything else that needs done. I don't see myself as a lazy individual at all. I get everything done that needs to be. I don't think parents realize how much running around and how strenuous it is on us teenagers when it comes to school/work. Most school nights I don't even stay up later than about ten just because I am so worn out.
ReplyDelete-Kahleigh Jaskiewicz
Some adults feel teenagers are lazy because they think that they don't have to worry about anything but going to school and that's it. parents are justified in thinking that way because they only see what's going on and they don't really know what's going on in the everyday life of a young teenager. my experience is that i don't have any responsibility so there is no need for you to be stress or be mad because you have to take care of things around the house. no they didn't realize how busy i was, they thought i was just trying to be lazy for no reason. i would probably try to let them know that i do alot of school work go to work then have to get up early in the morning to go to school to put up with the drama and teachers and may be tired after a full day of that.
ReplyDeleteMichael Rice III
Some parents feel teenagers are lazy because thet half do what their parents ask them to do or dont do it right away or because the would rather sleep then do ther activites. Teenagers have a lot going on in their lifes. mojority of them have full time or part time jobs, on top of their school work, keeping up with their social life. the worries of high school bullies. My mother never thought i was an lazy teenager, she was alway amazed with how i kept going and was very mature for my age. I worked full time lkept up sith my school work and didnt let my friends influece me to make foolish mistake. i currently live on my own and have been since i was 18, my mother to me now is more like a best friend, and the person i go to for advice. she was never the type to bug me to do much and when she did it was only to be a better person at times it can be annyoing, becasue its easier said to do the actually doing but i apperciate it cause it makes me strive to be a better person
ReplyDeleteTE-Aire Easson
I do not believe that parents are justified in thinking that teenagers are lazy.If you sit back and observe the way that teenagers act in certain situations,you will have a better understanding of how the teenage mind works.Everyone does things in an order of importance in their life.To a teenager,things like communicating with friends and watching television is important,so they will do these things before the chores that Mom and Dad want them to do.To the parents all that "teenage stuff" is not that important so they see the lack of interest in the "important things" as just being lazy.Ultimately,I would say, not that teenagers are lazy,but that they really don't have their priorities order.But it is also to be expected because they are not adults. Erika Lillie
ReplyDeleteReport in progress
ReplyDeletei think that all parents would consider lazy differently. some teens are actually lazy and disrespectful to their parents about their rooms. i myself thought my mom was rediculious about her rules over my room, but in turn it made me almost ocd about my stuff.parents idea of important tasks, and teenagers ideas are on opposite ends of the spuctrum. i think it really just depends on what you would consider lazy.
ReplyDeletemargo