TIME WE LISTENED TO YOUNG, REBELLIOUS MINDS

Opinions of a Teenager… is it just another book? Or is it a voice of a teenager who has never been heard before? Or is it a light at the end of the tunnel?

You are not a child! Don’t behave like a kid! Don’t watch this on Netflix, it is only for adults! You have grown so big, but your brains are pea sized! You should not go out so late, you are not so big! Haven’t we heard this so many times, haven’t we said this to our children, haven’t we all been party to this?

Teenagers are neither kids nor adults. Nothing is designed for them—clothes, too small or too big; TV shows—cartoons for kids, rest for adults; books—oh, don’t even ask!

I am not surprised why teenagers have no voice… nobody hears them. They are just hanging around in the school (now home!) or in their homes as just an appendage, with awful pimples, pointy moustache, uncertain beard and much more like that. For the last year and a few months this has been worse than ever before—all of it concentrated in the confines of household, probably in the same shapeless tee-shirt and loose shorts.

Whose fault is it anyways? Nobody chose to be a teenager. Everyone wants to be a big adult and all that. However, these seven years must be lived as a teenager, just teens. So, why shouldn’t they be heard? Why can’t they express themselves, un-edited?

May be this brings the ‘already adults’ some insights and can help these young minds pave a better future for themselves. If nothing else, it will give them immense confidence in themselves… something that they really need.

The book, Opinions of a Teenager, is their voice. Listen to it.

The pandemic has holed up people in their homes, some crowded, some noisy, and some depressing. No schools, no friends, no respite. Despite that the children have been amazing in devising new ways to keep themselves ticking. At the age of thirteen, this boy Shreyas, whose parents have not been home (they are both doctors and attended to patients all through the pandemic) has become the ‘light of his own tunnel’.

He has endeavoured to type out his thoughts (I would have said penned down but these days kids prefer typing to writing!) during the worse time of the lockdown this year, and self-published a book. This probably helped him vent out all his sentiments for or against issues such as education system, music preferences, dos and don’ts of keeping pets, planning your career, etc.

It may be a rebellious act against a lot of accepted norms but at least it is an honest beginning. As adults, we should not get offended if some child tells us where we are wrong or when we should change the way we think. We should include these young minds because they are the future adults and will be responsible for our tomorrow as well.

So, read the book, hear them out, and make tomorrow better. Icing on the cake is the way it is written, far from preachy, hilarious, and rib tickling for all ages.

‘Opinions of a Teenager’ is available as an e-book on Amazon. Enjoy!