Act your age | Teen Ink

Act your age

March 23, 2009
By vballer14 BRONZE, Cicero, Illinois
vballer14 BRONZE, Cicero, Illinois
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
Live life to the fullest go for what you want!


Have you ever driven down the street and found yourself saying “ Oh my god that girl cannot be older than 12 and she’s dressing like she’s 20!” I know I have. Kids these days dress and act older than they are or should. 11-year-old girls wear tight belly shirts with mini skirts and high heels, and 11-year-old boys wear their pants so big that they’re down around their ankles. It’s not right they should dress their age and stop trying to grow up so fast. You see 11-year-old kids walking around talking on their cell phones. What’s up with that! I didn’t have a cell phone until I was 16. I’m surprised that parents let their kids dress and act the way they do. I don’t understand why kids are in such a rush to grow up; the years go by fast enough as it is why make them go by even faster. I remember just starting my freshmen year of high school like it was yesterday saying wow four years here is going to take forever! And now I’m about to graduate in two months! Where’d the time go? Time flies so kids should enjoy their youth while they can because it’s not something you can get back.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 23 comments.


2brownI BRONZE said...
on Nov. 4 2015 at 10:03 am
2brownI BRONZE, Plaquemine, Louisiana
2 articles 0 photos 3 comments
I strongly agree, this is a social issue that young kids are growing up too fast, and dressing like they are 16, or 17. “11-year-old girls wear tight belly shirts with mini skirts and high heels, and 11-year-old boys wear their pants so big that they’re down around their ankles.” No child not even in high school shouldn't be dressing that way, that isn't cute at all.

Erossot said...
on Mar. 17 2015 at 12:49 pm
Yep kids should not wear makeup to go to school. It's not beauty school people!!

on Mar. 17 2015 at 5:36 am
Okay I can agree on most if this but in the beginning close I the end I dont allow my child to act like this and if she does act like that then she gets a lecture about it! If you see a child on the phone then they might just be talking to their mothers... It happens at times what happens if they acedentaly missed the bus because the teacher kept her back... See what I'm saying! Not all children are like this. Any one agree

on Jan. 31 2014 at 2:37 pm
Maaddiiee18 BRONZE, Wrightstown, New Jersey
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
This article is soooooo true!!!  I don't think that children understand what they are doing when they wear the clothes that they do.  Also, they don't know how life was a few years ago, so they think that the way they dress is "normal".  

Kerri said...
on Dec. 28 2012 at 4:41 pm
Oh and also, dressing a certain way is their choice and nobody elses as long as it isn't innapropriate.

Kerri said...
on Dec. 28 2012 at 4:38 pm
I disagree with all of this. If you were a kid in our time period, I guarantee most of you would feel differently. And isn't it a good thing to be mature? I really think there is nothing wrong with kids who aren't teenagers to have cell phones. And people really should stop comparing the present to the past. For example I always here people saying well when I was a kid I didn't have a cell phone until I was 16 or something. Like really, back then it was a safer place than it is now. Like if your kid is at her/his busstop and a stranger comes up to you or something call the cops. But if you don't have a cell phone, your in trouble.

Jenny15 said...
on Jul. 24 2011 at 3:48 pm
Well, if that must be because you're not confident enough. I also hate to see kids like that, but hey, someone may just be like that and that's who they are- you can't change them. If they show a lot of skin and are "innapropriate" than that's another story but I don't think a bit of makeup and a cell-phone would ruin them...

Fate98 GOLD said...
on Apr. 4 2011 at 1:19 pm
Fate98 GOLD, Glasgow, Other
11 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life isn’t about how popular you are… What girl or boy you are dating or who you know. Life is about always being true to who you are or what you believe in. Never let anyone convince you that their way is better than your way. In the end all we have is our hearts.. and our minds. This is the reason we sing.. this is the reason we cry… this is why we live." - Andy six"

ye but it's not always their falt though. Somtimes it's to do with the parents. It is very sad though. But thats just what society it today

on Mar. 13 2011 at 11:17 am
to.hold.the.sun SILVER, Maryville, Tennessee
9 articles 0 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present." -John Green

Amen to that.

on Mar. 31 2010 at 10:04 pm
What's stranger than that is when we ask kids to "act their age" and we get upset when they do so. What is "acting their age"? Is it "acting five years older than what they really are" so we can force them to be more mature or is it going by some predetermined rule-book of "this is how an 11-year-old should act/think/speak/dress like"? Just out of curiosity.

on Feb. 11 2010 at 4:21 pm
ardentauthor GOLD, Fayetteville, North Carolina
11 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A masterpiece of fiction is an original world and as such is not likely to fit the world of the reader. "- Vladimir Nabokov

I completely agree with you on this. At my school, everyone wears tight shirts and short skirts, and nearly everyone has a 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend'. It`s a bit irksome...

on Jan. 25 2010 at 6:05 pm
MisplacedTexan14, Saratoga, California
0 articles 0 photos 106 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you can't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them."- a Bumper Sticker
"If Obama was the answer, it was a stupid question." - Another Bumper sticker

This is so true. i got my 1st cell phone at 13 and it was only for babysitting and I still can't text on it. When I was 11 I wore jeans and t-shirts. I didn't even dream of wearing makeup! The kids who act older than their age miss out on the fun of being a carefree kid.

on Jan. 11 2010 at 7:57 pm
WriterFanatic PLATINUM, DesMoines, Iowa
24 articles 0 photos 184 comments

Favorite Quote:
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.
By Gandhi.

You know its not so much that they are self confident, its just...its what everyone else does. Its how they were brought up

on Dec. 28 2009 at 9:55 am
-alice- PLATINUM, Colorado Springs, Colorado
21 articles 0 photos 81 comments

Favorite Quote:
I care very little if I am judged by you or any other human court; indeed I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. -1 Corinthians 4:3-4

Thank you! Frankly, I'm extremely self conscious about letting skin show and stuff like that and when I go to the mall and see ten or eleven year olds wearing makeup (which I don't wear but once in a while) and mini skirts (which i only wear with leggings), I feel even more self conscious because they are more confident in themselves than I am!

Thisisme said...
on Apr. 18 2009 at 1:46 am
lol. Can I say thank you? I thought i was the only one to notice! I once went to a play with my friends and in front of us was a bunch of kids on a field trip. I thought it was a highschool. These kids looked to be at least sophmores or juniors. I was in 9th grade at the time. When they were called to go, I was so shocked. They were in Middle School, I am not kidding you! Me and my friends couldnt get over it. They all had cell phones, 3 inch heels, skin tight, cleavage revealing outfits. (yeah and that was just the girls) The guys were as you described above. I just wanted to shout at them to tone it down about three or so years. :) Why our generation so eager to grow up I'll never know....

Joyce said...
on Apr. 18 2009 at 12:39 am
I agree. I am so annoyed that those middle schoolers who act as if they were in high school. Now I am a freshmen and I see my fellow class mates from last year adopting "trends", trying to look older and cooler. I roll my eyes when I see them.



Congrats on your graduation!

Gossamer said...
on Apr. 18 2009 at 12:26 am
Gossamer, North Hill, Other
0 articles 0 photos 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
Love. I don't care what happened or who did it to you. Love anyway.

Oh yeah. I don't agree with you on the cell phone thing, though. I think the reason is this message that sex is the highlight of life. All those pornography shows and dirty jokes and scenes on TV have children wanting to get to the stage where they can do it as fast as possible.

Reese said...
on Apr. 18 2009 at 12:12 am
Reese, Laurel, Maryland
0 articles 0 photos 30 comments

Favorite Quote:
Mortimer Brewster: The name Brewster is code for Roosevelt.
Teddy Brewster: Code for Roosevelt?
Mortimer Brewster: Yes. Don't you see? Take the name Brewster, take away the B, and what have you got?
Teddy Brewster: Rooster!
Mortimer Brewster: Uh-huh. And what does a rooster do?
Teddy Brewster: Crows.
Mortimer Brewster:... It crows. And where do you hunt in Africa?
Teddy Brewster: On the veldt!
Mortimer Brewster: There you are: crows - veldt!
Teddy Brewster: Ingenious! My compliments to the boys in the code department.

I can be old fashioned about some stuff but I think kids should be aloud to be kids let them have fun while they can so if they want to dress like that why not let them???? I mean they see it as like playing dress up of pretending to be man of the house while Daddy's away....so I say let them be.......And most kids need cell phones now a days cause lots of kids in like 4th to 5th and so on walk home from school so it's a great idea for your kid to have a phone with them at all times......

on Apr. 17 2009 at 11:47 pm
James Hicks SILVER, Worcester, Massachusetts
7 articles 0 photos 2 comments
I Agree about this people act older than they are!!

on Apr. 17 2009 at 5:08 pm
BellaLuna1 BRONZE, Ozone Park, New York
2 articles 0 photos 93 comments
i am old fashion about some and not abut others, i have ahad a cell phne since 9 but my dad is blind so one thing he loves is cell phones, if i want one there is not one second of hesitation but i do sgree woth u i am like the voice of reson amoung my friends and they h8 it but it dose keep them out of trouble.