I spent my afternoon having the most AWESOME conversation with a 17 year old.

[Madrone]

We should have been ... you know.... like WORKING, but whatever! lol

She's amazing. Self taught a handful of languages, currently teaching herself guitar, loves music and foreign movies. Photoshop expert (her dad is a Photoshop GOD. If you know that that means you will be rightfully impressed)

Anyway - we talked about government and politics and world events - and a few other things. I was interested to learn that for YEARS she's refused to recite the pledge of allegiance in school, even though she's been made fun of for it. She said she doesn't want to pledge to something that she's not *completely* sure what it stands for. She wants to KNOW. EVERYTHING. Our history, world history, current events. She's currently reading the United States' foreign policy.

I don't know. I'm thrilled and saddened. THRILLED to see a young person that cares so much for truth and justice and isn't content to be led, saddened because she's one of comparatively few exceptions.

[DarkTirade]

1. Yeah, those were the kind of people I hung out with in high school.

I went to a school of 3000+ students.

I only had a small group of friends.

[Madrone]

2. It's probably much worse here - very small town.

I asked her what she does on weekends - hangs out in her room watching movies, doing homework, listening to music, reading, learning, etc... No hanging out with friends, what would be the typical response.

I told her that I LOVE that she's so different, so unusual. She looked at me funny and asked why I thought she was so unusual. I sat for a moment trying to find the words to describe what I meant when suddenly I said "Well, you've seen the kids in your school." Ahh...sudden nod of understanding there. LOL

Unfortunately I didn't get any interaction with those people when I was in high school. I lived in an abusive household so I was thinking about saving MYSELF instead of the world. :(

[WritingIsMyReligion]

3. Yeah, we geeks is chill.

My interest list on Facebook includes politics, jazz music and history, classic rock, music theory, piano, music in general, reading/writing, word games, the internet, Wikipedia, Youtube, GMail, IM convos, and getting e-mail.

:D

[Madrone]

9. You and I have not conversed before,

but you're definitely one of the ones I'd throw in the "exceptions" category. Actually, ALL of you high school / junior high peeps on DU are extraordinary. That may make your life more difficult now - but believe me when I say you will find more and more people in time that truly appreciate who you are, and what you have to offer.

[lightningandsnow]

4. She sounds awesome!

Wish I could hang out with her. I'm 16, and a lot of teenagers annoy me. But I'm sure she wouldn't... she sounds kind of AWESOME.

[Madrone]

10. She is kind of awesome!

You should read what I wrote to WritingIsMyReligion above as well - because what I said to her applies to both of you.

I have a HUGE amount of respect for you. :)

[Skittles]

5. I love talking to teenagers!

too many adults think they have nothing real to say - not true!

[Madrone]

13. I agree!

I've never understood why so many adults seem to brush off anyone under the age of 20 like their lack of years makes their perceptions inaccurate, immature, and/or unimportant. It's amazing what you can hear sometimes if you're willing to listen.

[Skittles]

19. you know it !

I strike up conversations with the guys and gals at the Blockbuster counter - I love youthful insight! And they LOVE talking to you when they know you're not gonna treat 'em like idiots! :D

[Omphaloskepsis]

17. My only interaction with teenagers is my sisters 13 year old boy and his friends..

Mostly we talk about skateboarding. Sometimes it shifts toward politics/history and those are usually great conversations. They basically know nothing but are willing to to listen without shouting, "You are wrong shithead." They have opinions but they are willing to accept that they might be wrong. I Can't say the same for the adults I hang out with.

[Shine]

6. I think she showed up in your life to remind you there are more like her than you think

I have great confidence in the youth of this country.

[Madrone]

14. That's a reminder I'm ecstatic to receive!

Because after the last 8 years in particular I don't have confidence in the citizens of our country PERIOD, regardless of age.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

7. Don't think her case is an exception and don't underestimate the youth of today

I was involved with the youth wing of my political organization here overseas and you'd be surprised at how many 15 and 16 year olds are members and how passionately they feel about progressive politics and policies. Some of them are very involved in campaigns already

My cousin's children in yet another part of the world are 13 and 11 respectively and you'd be taken aback by how much they know about history, politics, current affairs and geography. The 13 year old in particular seems to be quite feminist in her beliefs and views and holds them passionately. You can talk to them about anything -ranging from spirituality to foreign policy and they respond with so much depth and intellect. They are also well-traveled and well-versed in different languages

The Church youth group I work with has kids as young as 11 or 12 and you'd be surprised at how educated, open-minded and intelligent they are when they talk about politics, current events and spiritual issues.

And quite a few of the young adults I met in the US fit this mould as well

Society places too much of a negative emphasis on young people and underestimates them. But what I see of young people around me gives me a lot of hope. As does your example

[Madrone]

15. Well, it's not young people in general I'm concerned about it's young people in AMERICA.

Or even more broadly, Americans of all ages!

Especially where I live - small town, it seems like there's not as much exposure here for children especially to varying viewpoints or even passionate opinions regarding what's going on in the world, let alone our own government.

I told her that one of the most important things she should remember is that she should never believe anything just because someone tells her that's the way it is. Look it up. Research it. Read opposing opinions, and come to her own conclusions. It appears that she's almost natively done that already.

[lligrd]

8. Relatively Few 17 Year Olds?

Heck, there are relatively few adults like that.

[Madrone]

11. LOL!

A-freaking-MEN to that one. We touched upon that in our conversation as well. ;)

[qwertyMike]

12. She's GREAT

Just like my son (19)

Congrats.

I wore my hair down to my ass in the '60's and haven't 'improved' much :)

Facebook thingy: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=660380682

Mike

[Madrone]

16. Glad to hear your son is GREAT too. :) We can't have too many of those!

BTW - I hate that Facebook doesn't let you *see* unless you register. :( At least MySpace lets you see the individuals main page. /pout

[GOPisEvil]

18. Wow! A teenager up there not hooked on meth?!

Awesome! It's great knowing there are kids like this out there.

On edit - there were A LOT of young people (sub-college) at the rally tonight.

[Madrone]

20. Yeah - her mom's a crazy beyotch that used to work at my co.

I liked her alright, but she's ... a piece. Anyway, I have no real bad feelings about her - but I'll never be hang-out friends with her either. Mostly I'm only glad she's gone because she bitched CONSTANTLY about working there (and puhLEEZE - my company isn't perfect but it's pretty trick) and her voice was like a screwdriver in the ear - and she made intercom pages a lot. Other than that we had no issues - she's one of those people that almost becomes endearing by her quirkiness. But I definitely wouldn't want to live with her. ;)

ANYWAY - the girl is "interning" w/ us in Inet. She's a freaking photoshop genius - oh, forgot to say she's a photographer and has had her art displayed at the coffee shop we've gone to in town, and she sold a number of pieces.

Anyway - we had a major bonding moment, thanks to the boss being off today. ;) In fact, about the only thing productive about today was all the cool conversation we had...LOL I don't know how we made it a WHOLE day, talking as much as we did, without the notorious one jumping in and/or monopolizing it all...??? Weird! Good day though. :thumbsup:

[GOPisEvil]

21. That's really neat. Your day was much better than mine.

Our mainframe was down from 10:30 - 1:00 x(

But the boss was off. :)

And with that...I am going to bed. :boring:

Edited to add: :loveya::*