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What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?
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tankazoo Offline
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Post: #1
What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

Hi all,

I am curious as to what ya'll think about being a 'kid' today (or teenager, youth, adolescent, whatever one might be labelled by adults)

Do you feel forced into behaving certain ways, in order to fit into what a 'kid' is supposed to be like? Have you ever pretended or play a part in order to get what was needed from an adult? How so?

What do you think adults (or parents or teachers, or public figures like politicians) don't understand about you?

Do you feel like you are being cheated, or robbed of a 'childhood'? How so?

In many ways, I feel like the first time I felt any sort of freedom (like that I wish I had as a child) was when I moved away from my parents for college- although I just ended up being forced into different types of boxes.... (i am in my 20's now)

Ok, thank you for checking this out and I hope to hear from a few of you!
02-23-2013 11:17 AM
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Ky Offline
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Post: #2
What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

I feel as though minors are treated as incomplete human beings by some and less than even sub-human by others. Civil rights these days are deplorable - at least in historical times, teenagers were the hard-working apprentices and children were the incorruptible symbols of innocence.

What people think of young'uns these days? Apparently children are people who can easily rattle off curse words and make vulgar jokes while whining about CoD, and teenagers are drunk smokers (sometimes of weed) that drive into buildings and steal cash from whomever is inside. It doesn't make much sense to me why people would think these things.

Public Service Announcement: First world problems are still problems.
02-23-2013 11:32 AM
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 Thanks given by: tankazoo , GamerGurl , SoulRiser
no Offline
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Post: #3
What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

Oh god, did DoA just say "minor?"

*twitch*

*seizure*

*catastrophic nuclear explosion*

It's always bugged me, that word. That my designation is synonymous with "small" and "unimportant." Surely if you are opposed to believing we are "incomplete" you wouldn't use such a loaded term?

Hello, traveler.

This is an ancient account I have not used in a long time. My views have changed much in the intervening months and years.

Nonetheless, I refuse to clean it up. Pretending that I've held my current views since the beginning of time is what we in the industry call a lie. Asking people to do so contributes to moralistic self-loathing. "See, those people have nothing damning! I do! I'm truly vile!"

Because you can never be a good person with a single blemish on the moral record, I thought that simply entertaining some thoughts made me irredeemable. Though I don't care for his writing style, William Faulkner presents a good counterexample. He went from being a typical Southern racist to supporting the civil rights movement. These days we'd yell at him for that, probably.

People are allowed to change their views.

Nevertheless, this period of my life has informed some of how I am today. In good ways and bad ways. To purge it would be to do a disservice to history. Perhaps it will not make anyone sympathetic, but it may help someone understand.

If, after reading all this, you still decide to use the post above as evidence that I am evil today, ask yourself if you have never disagreed with the moral code you now follow. In all likelihood you did, at some point. If some questions are verboten, and the answer is "how dare you ask that," don't expect your ideological opponents to ever change their minds.
02-23-2013 12:35 PM
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tankazoo Offline
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Post: #4
What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

so i am guessing DoA, you aren't a 'minor'?

planetfall, what terms, if any, are less repulsive? why?
02-23-2013 12:45 PM
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tankazoo Offline
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What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

"children are governed by institutions they can in no way control themselves- institutions that may or may not protect their rights. A child who faces abuse at the hands of an adult learns not all adults uphold the laws of the land; they also learn that only adults can rectify the situation. How is a child to know which adults will uphold their rights and which will violate them?"

I feel like I kind of knew instinctively, when really little, and as i got older, I found out by *testing* them, or by closely observing how they acted to other people... Or i found out after it was too late
(This post was last modified: 02-23-2013 01:02 PM by tankazoo.)
02-23-2013 01:00 PM
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Ky Offline
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Post: #6
What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

I'm hammering on the perception of "incomplete human being" by using minor.

Am I...one of those? No, but I am at the age associated with being one. Don't mistake me for being insignificant, however.

Public Service Announcement: First world problems are still problems.
02-23-2013 01:47 PM
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no Offline
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Post: #7
RE: What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

(02-23-2013 12:45 PM)tankazoo Wrote:  planetfall, what terms, if any, are less repulsive? why?

Why not just completely dispense with describing people by their age, or simply call them "old" or "young?" Splitting it into "children" and "adolescents" would help, and sound a lot less insulting and derogatory. However there is still the problem that the borders between these groups are based on an arbitrary age, and to most people (especially those in agreement with the status quo) there is no transition -- a person is a child and then 13 years after their birth, BAM! In one instant they are now an adolescent.

I think it would probably be best to not refer to age at all, except maybe saying "He's XYZ years old" and not lumping people into categories based on their age.

Hello, traveler.

This is an ancient account I have not used in a long time. My views have changed much in the intervening months and years.

Nonetheless, I refuse to clean it up. Pretending that I've held my current views since the beginning of time is what we in the industry call a lie. Asking people to do so contributes to moralistic self-loathing. "See, those people have nothing damning! I do! I'm truly vile!"

Because you can never be a good person with a single blemish on the moral record, I thought that simply entertaining some thoughts made me irredeemable. Though I don't care for his writing style, William Faulkner presents a good counterexample. He went from being a typical Southern racist to supporting the civil rights movement. These days we'd yell at him for that, probably.

People are allowed to change their views.

Nevertheless, this period of my life has informed some of how I am today. In good ways and bad ways. To purge it would be to do a disservice to history. Perhaps it will not make anyone sympathetic, but it may help someone understand.

If, after reading all this, you still decide to use the post above as evidence that I am evil today, ask yourself if you have never disagreed with the moral code you now follow. In all likelihood you did, at some point. If some questions are verboten, and the answer is "how dare you ask that," don't expect your ideological opponents to ever change their minds.
02-23-2013 11:28 PM
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Ky Offline
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Post: #8
What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

I, for one, don't mind the existence of terminology used to describe one by their age, but some words are offensive. I think "minor", an often legal term used to describe those under 18 (or perhaps 21), should be deemed as taboo as "bitch" or "nigger".

After all, this is civil rights we're talking about. Discrimination against people by age is something to have only fairly recently stemmed in our society, but already it's as grave a societal threat as discrimination by sex or race.

Public Service Announcement: First world problems are still problems.
02-24-2013 02:36 AM
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IamNoone Offline
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Post: #9
What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

What it means to be a "kid" is to be a second-class-citizen, nothing more nothing less.

The purpose of life is a life with a purpose
So I’d rather die for a cause than live a life that is worthless
I don’t need the circus or the day of national observance
I need you to think for you and stop being a servant
-Immortal Technique, The Martyr, The Martyr
(This post was last modified: 02-24-2013 05:21 AM by IamNoone.)
02-24-2013 05:17 AM
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Ky Offline
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Post: #10
What does in mean to be a 'kid' today?

Less than second class, even. According to the law, kids aren't exactly citizens except through their parents.

Public Service Announcement: First world problems are still problems.
02-24-2013 03:24 PM
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