A few months ago, I asked the youth to write down on a card “One Thing I Wish Grown-Ups Knew.” Below are the twenty answers from those cards:
- Learn that just because you are older doesn’t show more wisdom. Most kids experience things you haven’t.
- Always put yourself in the other person's shoes.
- You never know what somebody is going through.
- Always listen to the 2nd side of the story.
- I wish they knew how much stress and work I go through and can’t always remember doing everything.
- Sometimes we just want you to listen.
- Listen
- Listen to what we have to say before yelling.
- Its hard when people think you can’t be sad or have something going on just because of your family or how you act at school.
- They need to know after games and stuff when and when not to talk to us.
- Gotta teach us for us to know how to do it.
- Growing up with tech and the modern world is(n’t) bad unless you make it bad
- My advice is to always be there for your kids no matter what.
- My advice to adults would be to chill out relax, but to also match everyone else’s energy.
- Just because you think you have went through it before doesn’t mean it’s the same for me.
- Don’t wait for the world to do it, you be the one to do it. You be the one to take the chance if you fail do it again.
- Always give 2 chances.
- It’s harder to express or find the words to our feelings that you might think.
- Why get mad at us when we are just being kids.
- IDK
I present this list to you without editorializing it. What sticks out to you? Adults, do you ever remember feeling like this when you were younger? We will explore some of these suggestions in future postings.