Society today stereotypes teenagers in such a way that every teenager seems to be inclined to be bad. In my opinion, society bases their stereotypes on the teens they come into contact with as well as the ones that stand out from the rest. Teenagers are believed to be obnoxious and ignorant; which also ties in with disrespectful. People believe that teens are rebellious, immature, and trouble for their parents. People tend to think teens are violent, reckless, and lazy. When a person thinks of teenagers, they think of a person who is just looking for a chance to disobey and a strict eye should be kept on them.
However, not all teenagers are like that. Some may fall into the afore mentioned criteria, however many tend not to. Many teens are mature and act their age. They don’t prove to be trouble for their parents; in fact most of them are their parent’s favourites. Such as my cousin, who is the model daughter.
Many teens are also respectful of their parents and other people. They are – we are – well behaved, such as many of Loretto Colleges’ students. This further proves the point that not all teens’ fall into the stereotypical category. Believing in a stereotype has its disadvantages.
First of all, nobody likes being judged because of a stereotype. Nobody wants to be known as someone their not. Teenagers want their voice heard and with these stereotypes, however nobody’s listening because they don’t want to. So the teens rebel, which just proves to everyone else that their ideas of teens are right; it is a vicious cycle. These stereotypes are so common that, now teens think that they, in general, are bad. For example, when teens are asked why they did something, they answer with, “I’m a teenager, it’s what I do. ” Every adult, nowadays, sees teens as bad people (“Handling Your Teen” books).