Opinions

Amy Collins, 14, USA

As a young child you're taught to stand up for what you believe in. People tell you that your opinions mean something, that you can be anything you want to be.

Then you enter the teenage years. You go to school and are sent mixed messages. Your teachers tell you to express your opinions, To tell them what you think.

Unless, of course, your opinions are different than theirs. If that's the case, you are sent to the principal. "Disrespect," they call it.

Since when has having and opinion disrespectful? Besides, doesn't the constitution give us freedom of speech? It's written right in the first ammendment, and the last time I checked, the constitution gave everyone freedom, not just adults. It's time to do something.

Teenagers can be responsible, mature, and smart. We are people, and adults should treat us that way. If we don't take a firm stand soon, we'll always be pushed around by someone else.

We need to make a document of some sort, naming everything that we are being cheated out of.

No violence, just a formal statement. Why are we allowing ourselves to be walked all over like we are? Some rules should stay the same, but some MUST BE CHANGED! As the quote goes,

"Children are half of our population and ALL of our future." If that's true, don't we deserve some respect ourselves?