Pick On Someone Your Own Size

These two cartoon strips ran in my local newspaper yesterday:
 

     If the first comic had made fun of women, handicapped people, or racial minorities, they wouldn't have printed it in the first place in fear of offending someone. Well, I'm certainly offended. I understand that Bruce Tinsley is trying to make his readers laugh, but he had made the mistake of assuming that his readers consist entirely of adults. In my experience, adults are generally more interested in the sports or news sections.
     As for the second one, I'm not even sure why I bothered to read it this week. I can't recall the last time Zits depicted teenagers doing anything positive. I'm not sure why Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman struggle with this. Luann, Baldo, Hi and Lois, and Foxtrot write perfectly funny strips about teenagers going through everyday life. Flo & Friends features a teenage girl with a pink mohawk who enjoys hanging out with her grandmother.
     After I finish this post, I'm going to write emails to all three cartoonists expressing my frustration, encouraging them to be more tolerant in the future, and mentioning that I my blog has been read hundreds of times in over twenty countries. If I find something else rude, I'll post it here.

The Pros and Cons

The Seven Best Things About Being a Teenager
1: Going to the mall without parents
2: Going to the mall with friends instead of parents
3: Enjoying myself while adults worry about all those silly grown-up things, like taxes.
4: Being able to drive...eventually
5: Not having to eat from the kiddie menu
6: Going on big roller coasters
7: If you so choose to run around walmart with a tutu, a cart full of pineapples, and a friend in a gorilla suit*, nobody wonders why you're doing it. Being a teenager is explanation enough.

The Three Worst Things About Being a Teenager
1: Adults don't take you seriously
2: Comments that would have been called funny if an adult had said them are sassy coming out of your mouth.
3: Whenever you enter a store without an adult, there's the possibility of getting kicked out because somebody thinks you're up to no good.

*If haven't done that (yet) but I've done similar things

London Rioters Not Helping

A woman leaps out of a building set on fire by London rioters

    Most of you have heard about the riots going on in London-buildings set aflame, shops being looted, and rioters arrested. In most cases, the rioters are young, most of them under twenty and some as young as eight. Many of them are also unemployed, frustrated with the system, and feel that society owes them something.
     I know they're young, I know they have something to be angry about, I know they're the kind of people I often write about, but I'm not siding with them. They're not like the activists in northwest Africa,  waving signs and chanting slogans. They're not poor, hungry mobs raiding grocery stores for bread and milk. They're mugging people and stealing flatscreen TVs, as if to say, "Society won't give us jobs, so we're never going to be able to afford this. Might as well take it while we have the chance."
     Society does not owe you a flatscreen. Society does not owe anybody a flatscreen. You want a flatscreen, get a job and buy one. I know you're frustrated because you don't have a job, but that's know reason to wreck the business of somebody who does.
     In addition to damaging others' businesses, they're also damaging the reputations of youth worldwide. Young people are already prejudiced enough, these idiots aren't helping create a positive image. 

"Teenagers These Days!"

   Three days ago, my friend Esme rode her bike to the store to buy cake mix and frosting. After she found what she was looking for, Esme walked up to the checkout line to make her purchase. The cashier, a woman in her late forties or early fifties, asked, "Where's your mom?"
"At home."
"How did you get here?"
"My bike."
"Where do you live?"
Stalker, she thought. "Close to the store."
"That's good," the lady said. "I don't like the idea of teenagers being out alone unsupervised."
As she walked out the door, Esme heard her mutter, "Teenagers these days."
     I think it's a little odd that she would say this. Esme didn't sass her, she politely answered all her questions. She didn't even have to answer them-that lady was nosy. Why are people so inclined to think negatively of teenagers?

Invisible Middle School

                                                                         Pictured above.
     I can't remember a time when I didn't know the name of my local high school. When I was in kindergarten, the elementary school was going through some repairs, so my first few weeks of school took place in the high school building. When I got older, I watched the high school basketball team and dance company at assemblies. My brother's football jerseys were the high school colors. My classmates wore t-shirts, pants, and sweatshirts with the high school's name or mascot on them. If I wanted to, I could buy these at my local grocery store. Everybody made a big deal when the football team won a game, even me, and I don't like sports in general.
     When I was in fifth grade, a friend told me she would be going to Oquirrh Hills and asked if I would go to the same place. "I don't know," I said. I knew I was going to the local middle school, but I didn't know the school's name. After two years at Oquirrh, I'm still not sure what our school colors are. Nobody knows who's on the basketball team-the only team we have-unless they sit next to you in class and tell you. The only sweatshirts with our school's name on it our worn by student leadership groups. Even the elementary school has shirts for sale twice a year.
     Why is it that middle schools seem to fade into the background? Maybe it's because they're in the middle. People have a tendency to look at the littlest and biggest things and ignore the stuff in the middle. This can affect laws being made. Awhile back, people were talking about making a law that would cut busing from middle and high school students and give it to elementary schools. One of the reasons for this was the fact that many high school students drive their own cars. That's great, but what about the middle schoolers?
     Just remember not to overlook somebody because they're too old or young. Like this guy:

This Guy is Awesome

 

     A few days ago I came across a book called The Teen's Guide to World Domination: Advice on Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Awesomeness. Who could not pick up a book like that? I read the first few pages and decided to check it out from the library. Fortunately for you, the book did not contain directions on conquering the world. It's actually a self help book about dominating your personal world. So I'll have to put off my plans to become Supreme Dictator of Planet Earth.
     The author, Josh Shipp, is also a motivational speaker. He gives good advice on money, dating, friends, jobs, so on and so forth. Even though he's a twenty-nine-year-old with a wife son, he's awesome at relating to teenagers. He rarely talks about "back in the day" or describes himself as An Adult, and never talks down to readers.  But best of all, his  "in your face but on your side" style is hilarious. I'm not exactly sure how to describe how hilarious he is, so I'm going to let his own words speak for him. This is the first page of his book:

//If you skip this introduction, I will find you and slap you. I'm not joking.
Good evening, teenage human,
     Pleasure to meet you. I'm Josh Shipp, aka the guy on the cover of this book whose hair looks like a Chia Pet. Aka the guy who just threatened to slap you. And meant it.
     I don't always threaten to slap people. I only do that when it's important, you know? Slapping people usually gets their attention. And I need you attention right now because your life is at stake.
     "Excuse me, Josh?" Yes, you heard me. Your life is at stake.
     No, you're not dying, so don't panic and call 911. This is good news, so lean in and listen closely.
     You get to choose how you live your life.
     
     I seriously recommend this book to absolutely anybody reading this-teenagers, parents, teachers, adults who aren't parents or teachers-it's awesome. I normally have better word choice, but that's all I can say about it. Just read the book already.

Another Syrian Teen Murdered

     A while back, I posted about thirteen-year-old Hamza al-Kahtib, a teenager who was arrested, tortured, and executed by the Syrian government for being involved in protests. Fifteen-year-old Tamer Mohammed al-Sharei disappeared from Daraa on April 29th, the same day and area as the former.
     Tamer was taken to a filthy detention center in Damascus. While there, he was ordered to praise Syrian president Bashar Assad. He refused and chanted an often heard anti-regime slogan calling for "freedom and the love of God and our country." He was beaten in response.
     I don't know how much will be more than some of you want to hear. If you feel the need to know all the horrific details, you can look them up elsewhere. Let's just say they broke his wrist and beat him until he was covered with blood and cried out, "Mom, Dad, come rescue me!" Later, he said nothing at all.
     Both teenagers' deaths have enfuriated protestors all across Syria. When you kill someone, you're seen as a bad guy. When you kill a teenager or child, you're seen as pure evil. Syrian government, you may be able to crush people into obedience that way, but you will never win their loyalty.