Problems as a teenager

I often receive little respect from adults because I'm a teenager. Teenage boys are thought of as mischievous and always creating trouble. Whenever I'm with my friends and we go into a convenient store, the managers give us dirty looks because they assume that we are thinking about shoplifting. Having a conversation with an adult can be difficult. Because I'm younger, adults think that I am not old enough to understand certain topics and quickly change the subject. I hate this because even though I might not understand what they are talking about, I may want to hear what they have to say. Another problem that I have when talking to adults is being accused of not paying attention. When someone makes a statement and not a question, I usually don't say anything or respond with a yes or no. Just because I have laconic replies doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention.

Another problem I have learned as a teenager is that life is not fair. When younger siblings complain to their parents that they have been abused by their older siblings, the result is immediate punishment. But sometimes the older brother did not hit his younger brother. How is this punishment fair? It is not. Innocent people die everyday. Thieves and criminals don't always get caught. Being a teenager, I have learned to accept the fact that I am wrong even though I am actually right. For example, when something valuable is broken in my house. As soon as my parents find out, they blame it on me. I try to tell them that I have no idea how the expensive vase was broken, but in the end I am still punished. School is not fair. People who never do their homework sometimes get the same grades as people who do their homework or never get punished for not doing their homework. Having experienced so many different unfair situations as a teenager, I have learned to accept the fact that life is not fair.