"I'm Not A Kid Anymore"

Health class once taught us that we are past childhood, into the stage of teenagers, and I think that that’s all my classmates have ever truly taken in from that class.

I go to school with a variety of students. Most of them declare themselves old enough to go out and have fun on their own, get jobs and cell phones, and date people who they “love”. They claim to be maturing young adults that have the right to make their own decisions and not be told what to do by their parents and teachers. Most of these teens get what they want, however, they don’t realize that with trust and freedom comes responsibility, which isn’t easy to fulfill.

So, today, I sat in health class, waiting for my teacher to pass out worksheets on the female reproductive system. It took about ten minutes to get started because everyone already knew what we would be studying that day and so took an early start on giggles and immature remarks. By the time the worksheets were finally handed out, the boys found the diagrams oddly amusing and so began an inappropriate conversation of their own. The girls sat awkwardly, not believing that this would be taught in school and squealed at the boys to be quiet while trying to hide huge smiles of their own.

And there I sat, in the middle of fifty “mature young adults”, learning nothing, and getting angry.

I wasn’t born in the US and so I learned about all the amazing opportunities it had to offer, I learned about its freedoms, and coming from a third world country into the best of the best, I could not be more grateful. I was taught, before I came to the US, that kids here would be very smart, very mature, and very mannered. Boy, was I surprised when I got into fourth grade.

My peers, who sit in the lap of luxury without even knowing it, can’t sit still to learn the very basics of sexual education. They have every opportunity in the world, every door swinging wide open at them at every turn and every corner, and they can’t see that. 

I tried to read my worksheet, to get some information into my brain. But, the giggles turned into laughs and the comments became more and more out of place. By the end of the period, when we had to fill in a worksheet for a grade, everyone came to the few kids who were listening and paying attention. But what could we, what could I offer them? Answers? I didn’t have any because I couldn’t pay attention over the noise and the chuckles. Educated guess? I didn’t understand anything because my teacher spent more time trying to calm the kids down than teaching.

So how is it that the same teens, that are old enough to have late night parties and dramatic relationships, are sitting in these bleachers now? Where is that maturity? That responsibility to act with respect?

It never existed.

It’s not the laughs and remarks that got me angry. It was the lack of respect to those who wanted to learn something in those forty-five minutes of class. My peers can insult their parents, disobey teachers, and claim that they aren’t children anymore, and still act like eight year olds in serious matters. They give no value to one of the best education systems in the world that any child would die to go to, because they don’t choose to look at the bigger picture. These teens turn a blind eye and have nothing to show for their great heritage.

A lot of times I could be angry with them, and sometimes I am. But all the time, I feel sorry for them. I feel sorry for them because they’ll never see what they have and when they lose it, they won’t be able to blame anyone but themselves. I feel sorry for them because they choose to always talk and never listen, and to never come out of their narrow mindedness. I feel sorry for them, because they’ll never learn to be truly grateful for all that they have been given from birth and they will never strive to use these golden opportunities. But most of all I feel sorry for them because they choose to grow up so early and never take in the finest moments of a childhood, the moments that every adult yearns to get back.

I’m thirteen onto fourteen and still a kid. I may not always do what my parents ask, but I listen and converse with them. I obey my teachers and put effort into schoolwork. I spend time with my sister and listen when others speak. I keep my mind open to learn and to understand the billions of others that share my world. I try to become something more than I am, to walk through my open doors, and to use my opportunities. I keep in mind, where I am, who I am, and the place that I come from. And, without wanting to grow up and not be a kid anymore, I accept my responsibilities and fulfill them.