Relating with parents is a tidal wave full of difficulty, and misunderstanding. Not to say that we teenagers don’t talk to or want to associate ourselves with our moms and dads, but sometimes things can get awkward or even upsetting when you can’t seem to get an understanding from the older generations. Fandoms, cultural slang, teenage angst, all teenagers go through these at some point in their lives.
When and how this happens depends on the person, but most of the time the adults won’t have much of a clue as to why their child is in their room hanging up posters of their favorite bands or franchises while staring at them as if madly in love. All this stirs up a good question ultimately: do adults understand anything? And if not, then will they in the future?
Let me start off by saying this: The glory years of the 70’s through the 90’s were a completely different era compared to today’s age. We have Bruno Mars, they had Michael Jackson. We have Adventure Time, they had Tom and Jerry. We have the Playstation Four, they had the NES. We have Justin Bieber, and they got lucky.
Their standards of living as teenagers are different from our standards today. Things were much more disciplinary back then than they are now, so the teen angst that has multiplied over the years might confuse and anger some adults. Sure, it might be unfair that a father sends her daughter upstairs to change into better clothing just because of a strip of her bra-strap is showing. But what teens have to understand is the fact that in their teenage days most girls didn’t even wear anything that revealed much of their shoulder let alone their bra-strap.
Let’s be honest, there are some things that probably most parents will never, EVER understand. Things like the type of music their kids listen to, the slang that they hear them use, even their fashion sense (if their kids take Lady Gaga as a fashion genius). However, I bet you that if you had the chance to look back into the early years of your folks, you would be questioning all the same things. Things like how everyone thought mullets and perms were essential to looks, and how everyone wore clothing that was extremely baggy and looked like the visualization of epilepsy.
So take my word for it, adults will never understand us completely, because we live in a different age. It’s like having a pair of medieval parents raising a cowboy (okay maybe not that drastic, but you get the point). The best you can do in those situations where you want to never speak to your parents again after a misunderstanding is to…you guessed it, Speak to them!
We, the teenagers, are the only ones who can give our parents and all adults a possible understanding of the generation. They need cultural teachers, and every teen fits the qualifications. I try to cope with my parent’s misunderstandings of modern culture (and they come from Cuba, which makes it even more difficult) every day, and also try to teach them new things about what’s currently going on.
Remember, every time your mom tells you to wear an extra sweater because it’s chilly outside, or if your dad doesn’t want you out at another party because you have studying to do, or even if your grandma urges you to eat your food because she’s just like that, take it into consideration that they’re doing it because they care, not because they don’t understand. Don’t let your angst or grouchiness get the better of you in those situations. You only get one set of parents for life. They were teens once too, just show them how you’re not so different at all, and they’ll understand eventually.
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