Jodie says:
Fri, 24th Apr 200910:29 am 

I just got mistaken for a high-schooler not ten minutes ago. I'm going on 24. Ugh.

Olivia says:
Fri, 24th Apr 200910:54 am 

I live in Boston and when me and my friends go out we can always spot the high schoolers from the other people vaguely around our age group. It may have something to do with how loud they always are and how they always seem to be talking about something totally inconsequential.

My sister is in high school and her and her good friends are some of the coolest people I know, but they are definitely in the minority compared to the rest of people I know at that age.

Sean says:
Fri, 24th Apr 200910:59 am 

Here in Scotland it is totally different. Yeah, you get the occasional idiot – but everyone has common sense. I believe this is because I live in the Countryside, not the City. I know a few people who go to a High School in the City and they tell me all types of stories, such as; People bring knifes into school to stab some kids, have physical fights with the teachers, and loads more. Plus my High School is a Catholic High School…maybe that has got something to do with it? I'm not sure. Even though I got to a pretty amazing school I still get made fun of because of my dyslexia! Pain in the butt, but I just deal – I know they are all joking.

Lucy says:
Fri, 24th Apr 200911:53 am 

This was a horrible article. So, high schoolers can't drink because they WILL DIE?? Some actually do know their limit. You say that you've "been there", yet criticize and make them out to be future criminals that are ruining society. I don't think you understand hypocrisy. Look it up.

And I don't think highschoolers have gotten stupider, I think the media has been covering the horror stories better.

Shaun says:
Fri, 24th Apr 200911:56 am 

Huh. I drank at school plenty of times.

And what have you got against working at Applebees?

Kidding. I have a fairly well paying job. I'm getting paid right now.

Anger Class

Brittney says:
Fri, 24th Apr 200912:57 pm 

I have never seen so much name calling and so many generalizations in an article on this site as I saw in your article. Not to mention the fact that this stuff was going on while I was a teenager. Maybe you personally didn't know of it going on, or you didn't hear about it in the news, but the examples you are using against high schoolers aren't new.

Lily says:
Fri, 24th Apr 20092:06 pm 

I am three years out of high school and I remember someone doing coke off their finger in the middle of the senior lot and i lived in a quiet rich conservative suburb. Shit was going down you were just too naive to notice.

Amanda-Wagner says:
Fri, 24th Apr 20092:36 pm 

I agree that teens have always been teens, so I wasn't too naive to notice the coke in the bathrooms, Friday night parties and lots and lots of teen pregnancies when I was in highschool. Lets not be dramatic.

That being said, these problems are becoming more prevalent among teens. There are also new problems that are happening more and more frequently. Take a look around, its only recently that teens started getting arrested for sexting.

I didn't mean to offend anybody by using words like "stupid" or "idiot", hell I don't even really believe that to be true. I just wanted to approach the topic in a less serious way and vent that kids need to be more careful.

Linda says:
Fri, 24th Apr 20095:22 pm 

I'm not so much offended by this article as I am annoyed..I don't think anyone wants to read your rants/vents that you typed up because some high schooler just pissed you off. I'm 17 and I'm about to be a junior at my university, lay off teenagers, would ya?

Anyways,

I'm not sure why everyone is so livid about the latest of stupid teenage activities…teens have been doing stupid things for ages…just about every generation has its dumb trend for "popularity", some just happen to be more widespread/get more attention than others..big deal, it's not your life, get over it.

Jessica says:
Fri, 24th Apr 20096:27 pm 

I agree. A hundred percent. Not all teenagers are like this though, because I just got out of high school (early, thank god) and when I was there I set myself apart from most of the people because they were pretty much idiots. Not every single person in the school was, but the stereotypical "popular" kids were, at least in my opinion. They smoked a lot of pot, did a lot of underage drinking (and bragging about it), and a lot of sleeping around within their group (I mean when you have 5 friends with benefits who have all had sex with your best friends..um..ew?). The girls thought spending class time wisely was adjusting their cleavage and liked to add 10000 guys on myspace they didn't know so they could have more "friends" too look at pictures of their boobs/ass. They thought they were smart if they read a book. one. maybe.

Some people call all this "fun." I call it "trying too hard to act cool and killing your brain cells." It honestly makes me think twice about having kids when I'm older. I mean, sure you can laugh it off as "oh not everyone's like this," but so many are. and then what happens when these kids get older? Will they learn?

talkstoself says:
Fri, 24th Apr 20097:42 pm 

I don't think it's that teens are doing stupid things more often, or doing things more stupid than what high school kids did in the past, they're just not hiding it so much anymore. That being said, there are just as many "good" teens out there as there are "stupid" ones. But much like the media doesn't find good news as interesting as bad news, the "stupid" teens and their latest idiotic hobbies are the ones that get the attention.

But for me, when I hear about these things, or hear my mom talk about how immature and misbehaved the high school kids in my town are (she works at the high school), I often wonder where the parents are during all this and what they're teaching their kids. Because my parents would have killed me if I did half the things teens are known for doing haha.

Winnie says:
Fri, 24th Apr 20098:51 pm 

Apparently Teens make bad decisions becuase their brains are fully developed yet.

Hmm…

Katie says:
Sat, 25th Apr 200912:29 am 

LMFAO! agreed- "faux celebretards"-priceless. Honestly in high school we all tried to act older than we were, cooler than we were….pretty much I remember most of us pretending our lives were like 'Laguna Beach.' But what really bothers me is that it seems to carry into college quite a bit. I feel like I'm constantly dumbing myself down to talk to people because they don't understand anything beyond the realm of parties, celebrities, sex,or television. It is weird how all of these kids are growing up with such a narcissistic sense of entitlement.I feel too young to be agreeing with the old farts that say "I weep for your generation," but…agreed.

Emily says:
Sat, 25th Apr 20096:51 am 

I've recently spent a little time with my friends back home, who all have little sisters/brothers in high school now. In general the problem with teenagers is that they think they're awesome, and know everything. Even if we've been in their position not to long ago, we still have no idea what we're talking about. The sad thing is, even if you think you didn't when you were their age you also thought you were awesome and knew everything. Gotta love the wisdom that comes with responsibility.

passionateforwords says:
Sat, 25th Apr 20097:36 am 

I don't know … I mean, I'm in High School and I see a lot of the people you are talking about. But it's certainly not everyone. I'm not like that. I'm a nerd who likes Harry Potter and I don't really associate myself with people who do drugs and drink and have reckless sex. For every stupid slutty teenager, there is a sweet good one. You need to realize that.

Don't generalize teenagers. We all have different personalities.

jaapengel79 says:
Sat, 25th Apr 20097:59 am 

Is your defintion of 'stupid' 'socially unacceptable' maybe? Well, I never got drunk in high school (or before or afterwards for that matter) and I agree with you, but your definition of 'stupid' lacks thorough contemplation..

'Stupid' can be replaced by socially unaccepta behaviour, or sometimes it means that a certain [group of] somebody[ies] behaviour just isn't 'convenient' for you at that moment.

Suz says:
Sat, 25th Apr 200912:09 pm 

I see most teenagers as self-righteous whiners. Even those in first year university, it's just so sad to see. It’s like someone told them that everyone will bow down to them. In general I think today’s kids are being brought up with the morals the media creates because parents are lazier than ever. I honestly don’t know who is raising these kids. Parents are so clueless about what happens on the internet. I don’t know if they don’t have time or really don’t have the intelligence to raise kids with good values and morals. But that’s a whole other debate. I was waiting for the movie to start last night and there were bunch of teens running around and screaming like animals. My friend and I were just staring at each other because we couldn’t figure out what was going on. That wasn’t the first time. I would expect a 5 year old to run around and scream not a bunch of 16 year olds. But there are still some decent kids!

imabeautifulloser says:
Sat, 25th Apr 20091:00 pm 

It's called no positive role model in the home.

It's called moms/dads with live-in "friends."

It's called parents smoking/token/dropping with their kids.

It's called young kids being parents.

It's called grandparents raising grandkids.

It's called parents who don't g.a.s.

It's called kids with too much time on their hands.

It's called kids who come from houses that are not homes.

It's called no church attendance.

It's called no morals.

Sam says:
Sat, 25th Apr 20094:08 pm 

i love this article. everyone always flips out when you call out high schoolers, but face it: they're all f-ing stupid. i believed that even when i WAS a high schooler.

Mike says:
Sat, 25th Apr 20094:22 pm 

I blame mediocre teachers, if they made their lessons interesting to the student they wouldn't act out. I run several (mixed) scout groups and they are well behaved because I keep them occupied and listen to want they want out of an evening, if more teachers listened to what their kids wanted and not what peer pressure wants them to say in public then they'd act out less. I doubt any classroom can be perfect, but they ALL can certainly be better.

Lily says:
Sat, 25th Apr 20097:03 pm 

I don't really think we can blame the way some teenagers act on one or two specific things. There has always been the one's that make lame decisions, and I'm sure we've all been there at one point or another in our lives, but there comes a time when we grow up and realize that there is more to life.

Allison says:
Sun, 26th Apr 20098:17 am 

Don't assume all high school students are stupid…believe me, I feel the exact same way about people getting drunk in school and "sexting", and I'm a senior in high school. Not all teenagers think they're the shit and can get away with whatever they want, but sadly, it is the majority. And even more unfortunate, teens are only going to get worse over time.

I don't think I'll ever understand what's going on in my peers' heads that makes them think doing stupid things makes them seem cool and "mature"!

Kay says:
Sun, 26th Apr 20091:25 pm 

You know what?

I'm a teenager, and I don't know anyone (ANYONE) my age who has ever 'sexted' or played the choking game.

Whatever report you got this from is simply a case of the media using sensationalism, in an attempt to suck in gullible and fatuous viewers. Hey, looks like it worked.

Tanner says:
Sun, 26th Apr 20094:44 pm 

What about the rest of us teenagers who actually have our heads screwed on right? Every generation has idiots, but that doesn't mean all of us are idiots.

Anonymous says:
Mon, 27th Apr 20095:27 am 

Stupid things I did in high school:

- Threw a party with 2 kegs and 250 people right before my sophomore year started when my parents took my sister to college (obviously did not intend for the kegs or the massive amts of people to be there. I was just naive)

- Bought weed on school property

- took my dads brand new lexus to school and practice and almost let it roll down a hill and crash (don't worry, I jumped in through the window and put my hand on the brake to save it last second)

Those are only 3 things. I have many more stories.

Now, I am not that stupid. And it wasn't even that I was stupid at the time. I was inexperienced, naive, and even if I knew what could happen, I didn't expect anything bad to happen to me because I believed I was more careful than that and could prevent any accidents or trouble.

These kids aren't necessarily stupid (although their actions may be), they are just naive, whether they'll admit it or not. I learned from every single mistake I made in high school and honestly it made me a better person today. I still have friends in high school (I'm finishing up my sophomore year of college) and I try to prevent them from doing stupid things by using examples from my own life.

These girls that are sending these pictures don't expect them to get out.. They think they're private. Other kids don't realize that it is a big deal (other than an embarrassment to someone) if they pass it on.

I agree that the media is just covering these incidences more than before and that the law is just now cracking down on them harder to try to teach kids a lesson.

SO, long story short, teenagers are just as naive as always and are still doing stupid things. Nowadays though the law and the media are doing more about it.

Joe says:
Mon, 27th Apr 200912:31 pm 

Lets get one thing straight for all the cool teenagers that responded to this post: You are stupid, you are naive, and you are getting dumber.

The fact is that this stuff has been going on for years in high schools, but you guys are stupid enough to get caught…like all the time. Why don't you practice some subtlety once in a while.

I know countless people who got drunk in the cafeteria, high in the parking lot, tripped on mushrooms for an entire school day, took ecstacy and rolled balls all day long, you name it they did it.

Know how many got in trouble…NONE

So if you think you are all big and cool and grown up and want to get f***ed up in school…at least be mature and careful about it…idiots.

Meag says:
Mon, 27th Apr 20095:47 pm 

the article was pretty interesting, entertaining but I do agree with some things, and disagree with some. I mean I've seen a lot of teens act/say stupid things. And if there's going to be any finger pointing, I'd say it should go to 1)Media (because of such huge coverage) 2) Parents who don't care/oblivious to things 3) School authorities- after all teens spend most of their days where? at school.

Oh why does it seem like teens are getting worse? actually has it always been this way or could it be that they're evolving? Anyway there will always be the dumb ones and the good ones, just like with everything else in life…*sigh*

Jessica says:
Tue, 28th Apr 20098:08 am 

I agree! Teens these days act WAYYYYY older than most people I knew when I was that age… not saying we were all innocent, and we did spend our weekends drinking and a lot of the times cut class to get high, but some things teens do today are crazy.

Jes says:
Tue, 28th Apr 20099:13 am 

I COMPLETELY agree with Joe!! Many of us got high as kites in high school… I remember watching a girl do lines of coke in the back of marine biology my junior year.

The major difference-

We kept it to ourselves!!!

Nowdays most kids (college-age included) want to post every freaking thing on myspace or facebook, and they feed off the attention.

We've become such a ridiculous ego-centric society… Everything has to be focused on us- whether its good or bad.

Its really quite pathetic.

bev says:
Tue, 28th Apr 20094:10 pm 

Actually, the people I went to highschool with are much more mature and responsible than the people at my university.

The friends I have that are still in highschool are also more mature.

Some highschoolers do stupid things…However, in my experience, college students do way *more* stupid things.

Katie says:
Thu, 30th Apr 20099:03 pm 

I think most high schoolers do lack some common sense, but I had a completely different experience. Entering high school, I expected it to be just like grade school, and when I did find out the number of people drinking/doing drugs I was kind of shocked. Luckily a family friend (then a high school senior and basically my “big brother”) gave me a lecture on how the key to having fun is knowing my limits, drinking only occasionally (at parties, New Year’s, etc) and if I did ever try drugs (which I only did one joint about 3 years later with my closest friends and an older sibling to supervise) to only use natural substances, nothing human made.
He made my life a lot better, just like my various age groups (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior) of friends provided AMAZING ADVICE. Thanks guys

Bailey says:
Thu, 30th Apr 20099:08 pm 

Frankly, I find this insulting.

To complain that all teenagers are "idiots" is nothing short of discriminatory and closed-minded. For every subset of people, there will be a portion that makes the rest of the group look bad with their own flagrant stupidity. However, this does not mean that every single member of that group is similarly stupid.

Furthermore, you may choose to believe that you and your peers were of a higher ethical than teenagers today, but the theme of "teenagers doing stupid things out of boredom" has been dominant throughout history, from the rampant drug abuse of the 60s to the Age of Reason when Lord Petre cut a lock of hair from Arabella Fermor's head and caused the collapse of the British government.

To claim every teenager is exactly like a few morons with camera phones is akin to claiming that every frat boy is a rapist. To blame the actions of a few on the entire group is peurile, and, frankly, I'd expect a mature college-goer like yourself to have grown out of that phase by now.

~A Teenager

Sarah says:
Fri, 1st May 20098:30 am 

imabeautifulloser says:

It’s called no positive role model in the home.

It’s called moms/dads with live-in “friends.”

It’s called parents smoking/token/dropping with their kids.

It’s called young kids being parents.

It’s called grandparents raising grandkids.

It’s called parents who don’t g.a.s.

It’s called kids with too much time on their hands.

It’s called kids who come from houses that are not homes.

It’s called no church attendance.

It’s called no morals.

_________________________________________________________

WTF is "g.a.s.", and how exactly does one "token with their kids"?

People like you that blame silly childhood antics on a lack of morals and low church attendance make me laugh. Prove that regular church-going teens are all innocent and pure and I'll renounce my current non-belief and start evangelizing on message boards alongside you and God and Jesus Christ. I don't believe for a second that church kids aren't having anal sex to avoid losing their virginity before marriage, or that they aren't drinking a little extra communion wine after Sunday mass. Give me a break.

tori says:
Fri, 1st May 20099:20 am 

well i feel that me being a teenager you should have considered that not all teenagers do that crap, I"m a well-behaved indian girl named Joanne and I'm proud to say that I"m really mature for my age and I took everything you said into consideration yes most teens do a lot of dumb shit but don't put the really good ones into that category.

valkyrie9 says:
Sat, 2nd May 200911:06 pm 

As someone who’s only a freshman in college – and therefore only one year out of high school and still friends with a lot of high-schoolers – I would say that it isn’t that this kind of shit is becoming surprisingly common in high school. Most high school kids I knew/know were/are surprisingly good at knowing their limits, and knowing how to have fun without getting in trouble of harming themselves.

However – as with a lot of things that the media panics about – there is a rather vocal MINORITY of high school kids who are doing these things, and because it’s newsworthy (& it makes adults feel less bad for all the crazy high-jinks THEY indulged in as teenagers), people are treating it like it’s the latest trend at every high school everywhere.

I think teenagers today actually are a lot more focused than they were when, say, the current baby-boomers and Gen-X-ers were in high school. After all, today’s high-school seniors go to college at much higher rates than their parents did, and this despise the fact that it is EXCRUCIATINGLY more difficult to get into college now than it was in the ’70s and ’80s (or, for that matter, the ’90s). So they must be doing something right.

I feel like I’m much wilder in college than I was in high school. I was pretty sheltered; I was at a high school and in a group of friends where the idea of a “crazy party” involved DDR and ordering pizza. Actually, I’ve seen a lot of kids at my school who were total lock-step prudes before they came here – and go completely apeshit once they realize just how much freedom they have w/o parents and just how much fun they missed out on by forgoing the party scene in high school.

@imabeautifulloser: I come from a “broken home” (my parents are divorced and I’m estranged from my biological father), my parents worked late, and I’m completely nonreligious, yet I never touched alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, or sex in high school. Matter of fact, I’ve been in college for a year and I’m STILL a virgin, STILL don’t do drugs or smoke, and only drink on occasion. A lot of the kids I knew who were hard partiers were weekly-church-going evangelical Christians with a family dynamic out of a ’50s sitcom. Fact, those kids are the ones who go completely WHACK in college once they’re away from parental pressures. So your argument = fail.

kate says:
Sun, 3rd May 20093:19 pm 

i'm a senior in high school right now and although this article is a little extreme i agree with you that teens are stupid. i see a lot of my classmates post pictures of them drinking and whatever. its so dumb, go out and to something fun that you'll actually remember the next day. seriously — stop trying to grow up so fast.

karina says:
Sun, 3rd May 20095:44 pm 

I would like to say that this article is very one sided. Yes there are teens who engage in those activities but I'm also a teenager. I just help built a school in Africa, I'm going to university on a scholarship and I volunteer at the hospital. And i'm not a special case, I do all these things with other teenagers so we're not all that bad. It's just the media only writes about the nagative.

gudyy says:
Wed, 1st Jul 20096:45 pm 

Teenagers nowadays have so much more things to express themselves with. They have more money to spend, better technology(who would have thought phones can be used for realtime free text messaging and sending pictures 5-10 years ago, internet connection was already a blessing), more time to waste…

Unfortunately, more of those means, nastier pranks and now unimaginable stupidity…

Sending bare naked pictures to BF and friends whose gonna send them off to the web. Now I wouldnt be calling them idiots like the writer, just stupid beyond belief, doing things in the moment, and under emotion like crushes..

Its honestly regrettable, shameful, and sad… they have stooped themselves as low as common porn stars. Since that is what porn stars essensially have given up, their private parts…

I hope that parents would teach their kids and warn them of this fact, and hope for the best for their kids…

Best of luck!

rusty says:
Tue, 22nd Sep 20093:45 pm 

Haha wow. i'd have to say this is pretty true…. just little extreme but true. Im currently a high schooler at junior year and it makes me pissed and sick the way alot of teens act. Everyone just wants to act all cool and see how fast they can make other people think their grown up. OHHH! and lets not forget the Gangstas and wanna-be gangstas, just retarded…. "Hey i have an idea nigga! lets break that teachers TV!""Yeah man!, tha'd be dope"………………

Nicole says:
Mon, 5th Oct 200910:50 am 

Sure some of the teens today act like this. But you're over generalizing. Not every teen gets high or has sex in their free time. Four years is not that long ago and I'm pretty sure there were a lot of the problems then as there are today. Just because you had your head up your ass in high school and never saw the problems does not mean they weren't prevalent.

James says:
Sat, 26th Dec 20098:22 pm 

This is ridiculous you sound like an ex-smoker complaining about a smoker.

Rose says:
Mon, 29th Mar 20104:49 pm 

There is a woman i am friends with i am 66 she is 49 shes divorced i amm widowed. ok. she tells me these bad stories abour her and her 18 year old daughter. i know the 18 yr old. she is useless quit schoolin the 9th grade when she was 17. hard to believe? just wait…it is not unusual for the 49 yr old and her 18 yr old daughter to scream, cry, hit, punch, get on the floor and pull hair, ripping clothes, knocking furniture over all while the 49 yr old's 80 yr old mother is dying in the next room yes dying with occasional hospice nurses coming in. To me this needs to stop someone needs to be arrested. I called division of aging…so far, nothing.

don says:
Tue, 22nd Jun 20109:36 pm 

So much ignorance in this article…

There are way too many things incorrect, and I don't think I can explain them all.

So I'm only going to express my displeasure, without saying why. Sorry.

perterbed, says:
Mon, 10th Jan 20115:27 pm 

Im tired of my girlfriends grandauter putting stupid pictures on my facebook page with her dumb friends that are ignorant too,
Mindless kids with no gumption other to just screw around and do stupid thing's,
never give teenagers a camera
they do stupid things with it,
and take pics of thier dumb friends in stupid little group shot's,

wondering????? says:
Mon, 10th Jan 20115:34 pm 

yea no kidding kate, there it is right there, all i see id dumb mindless junk on facebook like kids dont have anybrains and the parents dont care or arnt there to teach them to not pull this junk,
I never did this junk in school 30 yrs ago,
I rode dirtbikes or built plane or car model's, in my room listening to jazz on the stereo,
Kate im here hon if you wanna talk ok, im with you on this stuff and im 50 and havent found anyone that i can call a good friend in the last 30 yrs,
this whole country is full of screwoff's that have no values and no backbone,
all people talk about is dumb white noise
they dont know anything else,
hope to hear from you kate ok,
kirk,

mindlessthinker says:
Wed, 11th Jul 20129:13 pm 

Unfortunately, for me personally, it's not the media that is making me agree with the author. I've met typical high school students, and they are very stupid. I'm not saying that just to be mean. They really are the dumbest type of people I've ever met. We are getting dumber. Do you think our parents in the 1950's did the kind of stuff we did? You don't see photos of them acting like sluts or manwhores at school dances. They weren't PROUD to be that way—it was considered shameful, even amongst their peers, to act in such a manner. No, not all teenagers have been affected by "the stupid" but I swear every single one I've met has been a complete idiot.

oddlyaverage says:
Wed, 18th Jul 20123:33 am 

I know that probubly no one will read this,but I’ll say how I feel anyway.

To answer your question, teens are typically “so dumb” because they have yet to aquire their maximum brain development and wisdom that college students (such as yourself) clearly have. However, being a fairly avarage teen from a very avarage american public school, I’d like to make the argument that you are overlooking a VERY large group of young students who are actually contributing a lot to the world.

Of corse society is constantly changing. Your parents thought your generation was the worst and their parents thought your parents generation was the worst. That’s the way it always will be. The media are trying to outdo each other in being the most outrageous and the most sexual. This influences society greatly so I don’t think teenagers typical stupidity is completley to blame.

As I was saying though, there is a vast group of youth activists and honors students whose passion,ideas and curriculm are unlike anything society has seen before. Sure, our generation has sluttier sluts and more ridiculous druggies, but we also have smarter honors students bigger ideas. Please do not worry about these kids from the news intruding on your future career because they will probubly be working elsewhere. Smart kids like you will emerge and join you in the workforce instead.
P.S I am a fifteen year old child and, yes, I typed this on my smartphone.