1. Your parents were hip and cool before they had to pay your bills and feed you and buy you the cool clothes so you can impress the friends you'll forget about in 10 years.

  2. Life as a continued experience is weird. When I was much younger I would always think about all the ways I’d be different when I was older, but I’m still just me.

  3. And they’re still saving your nudes, even if you sent them on Snapchat and think they can’t screenshot without your knowledge. They can. Take it from a zillennial who knows from experience…

  4. I was a teen mom, and you lose a lot of friends when you are at a different stage in your life than anyone else. I got in some Facebook groups with other single teen moms so I can have someone to hang out with + someone my daughter could play with. And those groups are INSANE. I've always been good friends with my daughter's dad and we were even neighbours, so it was so weird to see how most of the girls/women at that group talked about their "babydaddy", and how little shame they had when it came to sharing pictures.

  5. To the ones who ride the public bus in my city, specifically: nobody else wants to hear whatever TikTok you’re watching. Buy some headphones.

  6. I figured kids nowadays have earbuds or some shit. If I'm going somewhere where I'm gonna be on my phone or a handheld console like my DS or Switch, I always bring headphones.

  7. Yup. Life will run you over if you fuck around. And even if you have your shit together, you could be 1 financial crisis away from losing it all.

  8. Apparently this isn’t a big thing for Gen Zs. A few years ago I worked for a university and we got access to the youth health study (2018)… The majority of 1st year University students surveyed said they were virgins…and even more interestingly rated their interest in sex as low! The stats showed young millennials and Gen Zs had way less sex and drank way less alcohol than older millennials and Gen X…By the way, for the other Xennials out there (1980-84)…The comparative stats basically said we were a bunch of drunk fornicators. Our stats were the worst!

  9. Its ok to be a virgin at any age. Its ok to wait for the right person. And its ok to not have been in a million relationships throughout highschool. Just because everyone is doing something doesnt mean you should. Always stick to your beliefs and dont fall for peer pressure.

  10. Also don’t just sleep with someone to feel included in the sex conversation amongst friends. I was 17 when I lost my virginity to a 27 year old & I never really wanted to in all honesty. I just felt like I had to before I was 18 because I felt left out lol.

  11. I like this one. It’s sad because controversy trends on social media, so I guess it seems like that makes you more interesting.

  12. Building on this. EVERYBODY fucks up royally at some point. A sign that you’re in the right environment whether that’s personally or professionally will be people forgiving and working with you to get better.

  13. This. I work with teens and none of them take me seriously when I tell them to never, ever mess with pills, even when I list all the people I knew at their age who are now dead from opiate abuse and ODs.

  14. I was a 100$ a day crack whore. 12 years sober. I want to scream at all kids DONT DO DRUGS!! Being dope sick sucks! Being friends with total losers just because they have crack will bring you down so fast. Sitting in the bathtub crying because you blew away 10 years of your life SUCKS.

  15. At the very least, whether due to poor time management, depression, etc, wash your pits and your crotch and ass. Even if it is a soapy wash cloth in a public bathroom, hitting those 3 areas can drastically improve your smell.

  16. And getting good at stuff will take time. Sometimes lots of time. And sometimes, you'll spend lots of time on something, and you still won't get good at it. That's the human experience. Some things you struggle with will come very easily to others, but some things they struggle with will come very easily to you. Don't be mad that someone possesses skills you don't, and don't be a jerk for possessing skills that many other people don't.

  17. I'm 22 trying to get into industries where succeeding in your late 30s is considered insanely young and yet I still find myself panicking almost every day about how I'm not successful yet. Fucking wish I could learn this

  18. When I was like 25 and stepbrother chuckled at me and said “nobody says ‘stoked’ anymore” I had that moment for the first time. The moments have only increased since.

  19. I used to be with it, then they changed what it was and what is now it is weird and scary. It will happen to you.

  20. I majored in literature in college (I teach now) and I remember 18-20 year old me being fascinated by how human nature stayed the same from hundreds of years ago.

  21. One of the more embarrassing things you realize as your perspective widens in college is how often adults were just humoring you as you explained things about the world as though they hadn't been common knowledge for half a century

  22. Adding to this: there's nothing original under the sun. You might think you have a great idea for a song and then boom! You find out The Simpsons had that same beat in '98.

  23. Also, mistakes or anything put on social media can certainly follow you along for the rest of your life.

  24. I'm a teen and its honestly incredibly satisfying looking back at how much of a idiot was because i know that feeling that way about my past self means ive grown

  25. You're closer to being the "older" person in any given setting than you think. And by "old" I mean like 30. Got nieces and nephews just starting kindergarten? Haha. Blink and they're starting college.

  26. It is perfectly fine to not know something. It’s OKAY to not know! Stop shaming and bullying people because you learned about something before they did. Social media is not the real world and acting like it is will only make people not want to be around you.

  27. Have those thin none existent eyebrows come back yet? Asking for a friend who has plucked hers to death in the early 2000‘s and couldn’t undo it. Edit: spelling

  28. Neurotypical older teen here. Completely agree. People romanticize mental illness and chalk every response they have to a problem up to mental illness.

  29. Putting every aspect of yourself online is unsafe. Nobody needs to know your list of triggers or your address or your blood type

  30. So many teens have their location data available on Snapchat for all their Snapchat "friends" to see just cause. I would never show my real time location data to all my Facebook "friends" so why so many people do it with Snapchat eludes me. So many people on those contact lists you just casually know and they're not actually friends so they don't need to know my location, its creepy AF imo.

  31. An acquaintance went downtown around when he turned 19, he got into a fight and he was dumbstruck when he got charged and was put on probation.

  32. Early successes at this stage in your life won’t necessarily give you an advantage later, but early failures will likely hold you back significantly. Basically getting straight As in high school will leave you closer to the mean than failing a number of classes.

  33. To add to this: please, for the love of all that is good in the world, do NOT get caught up in the legal system or get in trouble with the law. If you're in the US, having a criminal record absolutely will ruin your life. Especially if it's a felony.

  34. Social media will give you too much of a superiority complex and hanging around people who enable you will fuck you up later in life.

  35. That heartache you're going through? It consumes everything now but it will be nothing but a footnote in the future. You'll rarely think about it later - & when you do, it won't hurt you.

  36. As a 35 year old I can say this: Your socialllife in Highschool is meaningless. You suck? Doesn't matter. You're popular? Doesn't matter. You will meet new people anyway.

  37. Everything in your life right now is a trial run. High school is meant to teach you how to learn, how to communicate, and how to deal with other people. That's it. High school doesn't last forever and it doesn't really mean anything. You most likely won't marry whoever you're dating right now. And that's ok. Most romantic relationships you have will probably fail because you are young and you are both learning how to communicate, and figuring out what you what/need in a relationship. Enjoy this time of awkward growth - it's the last time you'll be able to be "a kid" and not have to worry about adult issues (unless you're unlucky and were dealt a shit hand in life). Be humble, patient, and kind. I'm rootin' for ya.

  38. Still got two day one homies from middle school some 20 years later, but the majority of the people you meet early on are insignificant

  39. Yesterday, I was you. Tomorrow, you'll be me. One day you'll wake up and wonder where that "plenty of time to do X" went. It will scare the crap out of you.

  40. I’ve found making new experiences slows life down. Taking trips, going camping, hiking trails, attending festivals, and having fewer events you can’t wait for help. What I mean by that is having few far away events you constantly and intensely look forward to. There’s a few tricks to achieve this imo. Stay busy. If you want to plan a big trip far from now do so. However plan trips, events, or other things to occupy your anticipation.

  41. “Life is like a roll of toilet paper; the closer you get to the end, the faster it runs out.”

  42. Yep. When you are 14, 7 years is an eternity because it’s half of your life. This is not the case when you are 40 and almost lived 7 years 6 times over.

  43. We adults are mostly just winging it, hopefully learning from the TONS of mistakes we make, but still winging it.

  44. I have no idea where I read it but I once read a lady talking about her childhood and she said something like: I didn’t realize when I was little that I was witnessing my parents grow up. It stuck with me both as a parent and as daughter.

  45. My high school age daughter and her entire School look just like my high school did in the mid-90s. They are even listening to the same music.

  46. Had a conversation with my 12 year old niece last week about how she's in middle school and there are emos at her school. I told her that we had emos when I was in middle school, too (I'm 30).

  47. It’s kinda liberating to realise this. So many more possibilities open up. The smartest people and highest achievers I know, regardless of the field they are in have curiosity as a trait and that’s why they do well

  48. Being 37 reminds of one of my favorite (albeit perhaps misattributed) Wilde quotes: I am no longer young enough to know everything.

  49. https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/arts-culture/3614182-1-in-4-gen-z-ers-plan-to-become-social-media-influencers/

  50. Incredibly true. I went through an enormous amount of shit in early 2019. Just back to back to back...life changing shit. Took like a year and a half to get through because I was just lost.

  51. Also it's considered child porn if you are under 18. So you can get in deep legal trouble from distributing and consuming. Even if they are your age. Even if you've been dating them for years.

  52. Learn everything you can from your parents, grandparent and elders while you can. They won’t be here forever.

  53. Is it comments that seem supportive like "omg what a skinny legend/absolute unit, we could NEVER", but it turns out they were trying to shame them for being thin/fat?

  54. This was sort of the bullying I saw in high school. No cornering the weak kid to take his lunch money, not many physical fights, just a lot of sarcastic compliments. Pretending to be friends with the outcasts only to laugh at them later on.

  55. This also applies to parents making their kid watch something on their phone in public places with no headphones and on full volume

  56. anyone who claims to be an expert at on tiktok or whatever social media is almost assuredly full of shit. its like believing those bs pornhub or 3am TV ads. theyll do more harm than good

  57. I would go ahead and say being “mature for your age” generally, not just being told that to creep on a child, is actually a bad thing for a kid.

  58. You guys know how the attractive and wealthy kids at school seem to just get life handed to them on a silver platter?

  59. Justice is not doled out like you want it to. Comeuppance don’t always come to shit people. In fact, if you’re willing to be a cutthroat d-bag, you’ll probably make a lot of money.

  60. And romanticizing them. Being bipolar doesn't mean one day want to jump in the ocean and the next be curled up watching a movie. That's just being a person.

  61. Also, mental illness isn’t fun. It isn’t sexy. And it isn’t like it is on TV. It’s awful and pray you never have to deal with it personally or in your loved ones.

  62. And feeling a small amount of anxiety is healthy: it means you care. Spending your whole life avoiding anxiety is avoiding all the things which make life worthwhile.

  63. Yup. I has someone jump down my throat for saying that, as a neurodivergent person, you have to learn to mask sometimes. It would be wonderful to be your authentic self 100% of the time, but I promise you there are times that no one is going to put up with your autistic quirks. Learning to function in society despite having these issues is a skill.

  64. Yup! It is pretty freeing to figure out that you can pick your own spaces made for you and others like you, and 95% of the people who aren't in that same space have no problem with you belonging to those spaces.

  65. This shit is so fucking true. I told one of my friends that I finally felt like i was at peace with life and she told me that's something she wanted to hear from me and that she was proud.

  66. You’re not supposed to create a safe space to isolate from everything that triggers you. You’re supposed to expose yourself in controlled ways so you can improve your coping skills.

  67. Yep. Often avoidance and isolation can actually make your anxiety around that trigger worse cus you're exposing yourself more to your own thoughts and detaching from reality.

  68. That and it's up to you to curate your life experience. The world isn't responsible for you or your 'triggers'. You gotta learn to deal with that shit yourself.

  69. That guy/gal who was mean to you/bullied you/etc., will never actually get their comeuppence. Not now. Not twenty years from now when you are a raging success. Not ever. They're just an asshole. Try to compartmentalize it and move on. But there will not be vengeance. Not in this life nor the next. They got away with it and the most you can hope for is they eventually see the error of their ways. But don't wait up for it.

  70. "Try to compartmentalize it" <-- would not recommend. Therapy helps process this, over it potentially building up and losing your temper or letting it consume you.

  71. Social media and messaging are not a substitute for in-person socialization. You are all grossly under socialized and it’s going to negatively affect your development and social skills for the rest of your life.

  72. Your metabolism won't last forever. Practice and develop healthy exercise and diet habits now before it gets harder and with more consequences later.

  73. Stop worrying about what others think about you. Not nearly as many people think about you as much as you think they think about you.

  74. Adults know exactly what you're going through. Just because it's the first time you've felt something, doesn't mean you're the first.

  75. I'm 31 now and I haven't encountered anything as rough as grade school. I am a happy person now but fuck school was painful. Nothing anyone could ever give me would be worth reliving those years. If the kids out there struggling likei wad are listening, it gets better.

  76. See, high school was significantly harder than college for me. College, I got to work on actual implementations of projects. High school, 100% study/test.

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