It’s pretty rare to get inside the mind of a teenager.
Aside from the cursory response-groans to questions like “how was school?” and “are you hungry?”, parents tend to know very little about their social media-obsessed, hormone-laden offspring.
Enter: Reddit.
Thousands of teens have taken to the anonymous site to share the things they really, really want their parents to know. And it’s an eye-opener.
So mum, dad? It’s time to listen (or, you know, read) up.
1. ‘We constantly have our guard up.’
“You need to watch everything you do, because kids are constantly on social media talking about someone,” LuluBelle shared. “[My cousin was] roasted online. Kids took pictures of him at unpleasant angles, calling him fat, making fun of his clothes, etc.”
“Things like this happen all the time and since the majority of kids have social media it is hard for them to escape.”
2. Using the computer is not a waste of time.
For ScrewYourHappiness, the idea that using a computer as a productive way to spend time is one his mother doesn't understand.
"My mum is convinced that any time spent on the computer is just me browsing, playing games or just wasting time in general," he wrote, adding: "It took a super long time to make her understand that most of my assignments require internet and computer access to complete."
3. 'My internet friend is not a pedophile.'
With shows like Catfish on MTV achieving global success, it's easy for parents to presume all online relationships are inherently creepy.
"The Internet is not exclusively full of predators, most of the people I met online are perfectly fine," Rolling-BrownOut insists, adding that parents should start encouraging safe meet-ups instead of banning such an event from taking place altogether.
"It's more important to focus on meeting them safely in real life, like at a coffee shop or something to ensure less risk."
4. 'We're told to chase perfection and it's exhausting.'
"You can no longer fuck up. At all," one commenter wrote, continuing: "Our education is becoming insanely competitive."
Parents and society are putting too much pressure on teenagers to succeed, and as a result, they are buckling, this Redditor says.
"Perfection is rapidly becoming the new norm where we are selecting people over others based on the tiniest mistakes, where half a percentage in someone's grade is being considered a fair gap, it's exhausting.
"I can't keep up."
5. Expectations for homework are too high.
MoreDetonation not only has a message for parents but for their teachers, also:
"Teachers: One hour of homework sounds good - for one class. One hour of homework in every class translates to seven hours of work, AFTER school," they wrote.
"I can't keep up with the after-school demands," another commenter agreed. "How am I supposed to do seven hours a night, every night? It's such an unreasonable amount I sometimes don't even bother trying."
Are you a teenager? What's the one thing you want your parents to know?
Top Comments
If I'm about to go out to meet up with friends, unless I've got my underwear on the outside or I'm naked or something equally horrifying, please don't say something along the lines of: "What on Earth have you done to your hair?" Or "What's wrong with your face?" or anything else equally as demoralising.
I'm ok with a "you're not wearing that are you?" every now and again, but if I'm going somewhere special like a party or something I'll often put a bit of effort into my hair and my makeup/face (I have acne so my face is a bit of a concern for me personally) and bringing down my self-esteem and making me feel ugly/stupid right before I go out really isn't appreciated.
Tell me when I get home so I can go to my bedroom and cry myself to sleep straight away.
That's horrible and I'm sorry anyone says that to you!! I would like to know if I've missed/screwed up something ridiculous (like had a smudge of eyeliner on the side of a finger that I've managed to swipe across my cheek on the way out) but if it's a different style preference it's no one's business. I often got "are you going out like that!?" if I dressed up, and 15 years later am still dealing with "is it worth making an effort or will people laugh at me for trying/thinking I look good" :-/
Oh I know how you feel, Milly. I've never forgotten the day my mum said to me, "Keyla, you just don't have the legs for shorts". I've never worn shorts since!