A New Set of Beliefs

I'll be honest with you, I'm scared of teenagers. They are full of anger and hormones. All they think about is sex, drugs, and whatever you call that music that Justin Bieber sings. Teenagers are hell bent on making horrible decisions that will bring shame to their families. You can't get a group of them together without someone sneaking off to smoke or get pregnant. So when my 14 year old daughter informed me she wanted to have a boy/girl birthday party for the very first time this year, I immediately began trying to find ways to prepare myself for the doom I knew it would entail.

Day of the party arrives, I end up with about 20 kids of varying ages in my yard, half are girls, half are boys. Thank goodness I had some adults on hand to help me keep an eye on all these hell raisers. I kept a constant vigil to make sure noone tried to satisfy their raging hormones. But I noticed that all they really wanted to do was listen to music, and be able to enjoy interacting outside of school.

I then started to wonder what their angle was. Why were they being so polite? Were they trying to catch me off guard so they could go in and invade the liquor cabinet? I laughingly told my sister-in-law we should tell them to play "Red Rover" just to see their reaction. To say I was shocked at their enthusiasm would be an understatement. In no time at all, they had teams picked, and were lining up holding hands, ready to play. Their laughter could be heard throughout the neighborhood.

After that, we suggested freeze tag. They loved it! I remarked to Christie, my sister-in-law, that this is how it was when we were kids, outside laughing, running, and playing. Not stuck in the house mindlessly playing video games and munching on junk. After they were worn out from the running, they moved seamlessly to a game I'd never heard of called "Ninja". How refreshing to see that teenagers still know how to play, and they've even come up with their own games.


I guess I was seeing just how silly they could be when I suggested "Duck, Duck, Goose". Again, everyone wanted to play.

After everyone had left, I was exhausted. But I found that my spirit felt happy. My beliefs had been proven wrong. I'm rethinking my whole philosophy on teenagers. I'm thinking that teens don't just care about drugs and getting pregnant, deep inside I think that maybe they still want to be kids, to be able to enjoy childish pleasures. I know they are growing up, but just because they look like miniature adults, doesn't mean that they are there just yet.