<p>Problem 1 # I'm 16 but i look like I'm 12. I'm short as anything and so on so on. But looking four years younger is the least of my worries. Despite the fact that 7th graders come up to me and try to boss me around or that adults don't want to give me soda. I'm concerned b/c I don't think i'll ever grow up.
Evidence 1 : I can't drive. I've been looking at the drivers manual but..... I'm too bored to read it and.... I don't have enough time to studyit properly.
Evidence 2: My mother facillitates all my problems despite asking her not to.For example, she totally embaressed me today b/c she went to talk to myrunning coach and tell him that she doesn't want me runmning on roads.
Evidence 3: My parents have only just let me drink caffeine.
Evidence 4: I posess neither facebook nor aim nor any type of email account for myself. How does one begin to do that.
Evidence 5: I do not act, nor talk, nor hold myself like I am 16. My life is feeling like a nightmare.
Well, that's out there, Feel free to make fun of me/ignore me/ dispense useful advice.</p>
<p>Most of that is your fault. Stop it.</p>
<p>That’s the only advice I think anyone can give you.</p>
<p>go google hotmail or gmail or another email server and sign up for an email address, it is generally free and shouldn’t be a problem. then, sign up for facebook with the address and add the people who you know. pay attention to how they use it and follow them (social “protocols” differ on that kind of networking site). this will give you a good idea as to how other teenagers around you behave.
make a list of things in your life that you can change all by yourself and set goals as to when you want to complete them (ex: read driving manual)</p>
<p>be confident! you have what it takes :D</p>
<p>Once you show those 7th graders you can drive, they won’t boss you around anymore lol. Maybe you feel young because you aren’t being independent enough? You can’t really control your height but you can control your behavior.</p>
<p>^I agree:) I don’t believe you can change your height, but you definitely can change your way of looking at things. Haha, some of those things apply to me to.(I can’t drive, I’m short, I don’t have facebook either) It’s all a matter of how you look at things. Realize that you may look young now and you may not be able to drive yet, but those things will change someday:) Don’t let other people bother you either, just worry about getting through high school while enjoying life on the way:></p>
<p>Thank you guys. and thanks for not deriding me…yeah, i was afraid of that. anyway, i decided to tell my mom that i need my own email account. she insisted that she know the password- I agreed b/c she’ll probably never check it… Yeah, I’m trying to crack on that manual now… Thanks for the advice… :></p>
<p>Why did you tell your mother that you are making an email? =O</p>
<p>She watches you while you are posting on College Confidential, I am assuming. Right? No, but my mom use to be very annoying about me not having a MySpace (ew) and even being on AIM. I never tell her anything about what I am doing online, and now, she doesn’t even mention anything about the internet. =D</p>
<p>Edit: Didn’t you need an email to sign up for College Confidential?</p>
<p>As a 16 y/o, when do you even interact with 7th graders? Also, your parents seem overbearing, but most of the problem seems to be your approach to life. If you ask your mom before creating an e-mail account, it’s not hard to understand why she is trying to facilitate every aspect of your life. G-mail is free and easy to sign up for, just go to gmail.com. Same with facebook, it literally takes less than 5 minutes. If your life feels like a nightmare, you may want to try and get some friends. Not trying to sound harsh, but honestly it sounds like you need time outside of your house and parents’ gaze. Try talking to people at school, going out for some school sport teams, and joining some clubs. Those are what make high school tolerable for most people. Good Luck!</p>
<p>Zapz, I asked my parents first if icould have a cc account then used their email… yeah, lame… I know but If i wasn’t slightly lame- I wouldn’t have made this post. Anyway, I decided Sirensong was right. So i created my own gmail account. I can’t beleive I didn’t need any other info like age/parents name or whatever…
Cross fingers, I don’t get caught with this by rents…</p>
<p>It seems to me like you need to discuss your independence with your parents. WHile I understand they may want more control than the typical parent these days, it is important to set boundaries. How will you learn to use your own judgment if they make all your decisions for you and you are scared to be caught doing something as harmless as getting a new email address? Have a chat with your parents about their concerns and let them know you are responsible enough to make safe and smart decisions. Maybe you can set fair rules together about what you do on the computer. It is important to let them know that they can still be involved in your life as you gain more freedom. If you always feel stifled by them then you will find difficulty “growing up” as your original post expressed a desire to do.</p>
<p>Take it from someone whose parents won’t–</p>
<p>Let me drive by myself
Get a ride from friends
Invite girls over our house
Hang out with friends unless parents are present
Go to a school dance
Date
Leave our property (I have to ride my bike around the driveway)
And so many more silly things, and I’m 17!</p>
<p>You just have two more years until college. Deal with it, but get that e-mail, at least you can stay in touch with people. I have found secret ways of accessing Facebook, which they also prohibited. And once you get to go to college all will be well. I’m on my last year!!! As far as the not growing up stuff, suck it up and pop one of them 7th grade mother****ers right in the face and they won’t mess with you anymore. Or run them over a couple of times with your car once you learn how to drive.</p>
<p>I try to talk to them but they won’t listen. Just this morning, I told my mother that I didn’t want her to talk to my coach b/c she was worried about me running ( cross country) along busy roads. I told her I’d carry a phone and be safe. She wouldn’t listen to me. She did what she wanted anyway. I tols her that i felt that she was taking away my independence and that I felt she was making all my decsions. She said she couldn’t take chances with my safety. That was the end of it. I understand her from the safety point of view but If i can’t run down the roads ( few sidwalks where we live) then i can’t train properly. Sigh.</p>
<p>Gosh, Biggie smalls- I get the refrence to your username. I still wonder if he did kill Tupac Shakur. Your parents are overbearing. Yikes!I’m not allowed to go to school dances either but I’m working on my rents. My parents better let me drive by myself or else or else nothing - I have no bargaining power except my periodic threats to join the military b/c my rents are so overbearing they think I’m not ready ( read: don’t want me to) go to college more than like 30 minutes to one hour away from them. </p>
<p>As for leaving my house property, my parents have my ten year old brother escort me around our property. They are afraid that while I am going to put trash in the driveway I will be kidnapped somehow, and my ten year old brother will break out kung-fu powers and save me( laugh) Crazy, isn’t it ?</p>
<p>Man, that sucks for you. But I feel for you, especially when all my friends can drive and do stuff that’s considered “normal.” I’ve just learned to deal with it and wait until college. Hang in there, nil desperandum!!!</p>
<p>And if your parents are like mine, talking doesn’t do jack, it just gives them an opportunity to reassert their control over you. But it’s worth a shot.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know… I’ve tried but they just yell at me on and on…
They tell me that no one in college is messy. ( BTW- they never see my room when its clean)
2. I need to cook to go to college ( no one cooks in college)
3.I need to learn how to do my laundry ( i do my own laundry)
4. I lose all my things ( do not)
5. That if I go to college not knowing # 1-4 will lead to me being killed, getting pregnant or something with me in a coffin. I mean, come on… In some respects, I think my parents are just scared.</p>
<p>Yup. My room’s pretty empty, but if I like have a notebook on the ground it calls for opening all the drawers and dusting and vacuuming, and complete reorganization! I think my mom even likes it! </p>
<p>And yeah, my parents say that I’m always losing things and that I’m not focused, which is one of the reasons they’re not buying me a laptop/allowing me to drive. I haven’t lost anything, and I thought that my school performance showed my focus, but apparently not. </p>
<p>And as far as college? I have to stay on the east coast. They told me I can apply to Stanford (my original dream school), but I’m not going or they won’t pay. So now I’m forced to look at UPENN as my first choice.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and there’s no way Biggie had anything to do with the death of Tupac!</p>
<p>Laugh…
I wonder if this is a Pennslyvania thing b/c I live in Pennslyvania too…</p>
<p>I told my parent tha I wanted to go to UCB but they refused. reason: "people in California are backward and an hour behind. If something happens on the east coast - tornado, earthquake, end of the world- peoplle in California will be killed in their sleep)…
What lame excuse is that… ?
UPENN is a good school tho, it moved up to 4th in the rankings. But I toured it and hated it b/c it was gothic and dark and deprressing. Also, I wanted to be a little farther like 3 hours away. i’m going to see NYU tomorrow…
I wonder if I know you…</p>
<p>Hmm…interesting. What part of Pennsylvania are you from?</p>
<p>And apparently Wash U is in the middle of the USA, which automatically means it will get struck by tornadoes. Seriously, that’s the reason my mom gave for me not to go there, I kid you not!
I’ve actually gotten to like UPENN somewhat, it’s actually not that dark and stuff. I went to this Drexel engineering mentorship program, and we spent a lot of time on Penn’s campus, and I’ve gotten fond of the Philadelphia area. We’ll see what happens! </p>
<p>NYU’s really nice, but I’m not applying. Hope you like it, I know a few people who go there! </p>
<p>If we somehow know each other, that would be intense…PM me.</p>
<p>Lol, I’m from PA as well, but I will admit that my parents are not nearly as overbearing as some of yours are, even though they are still overprotective. My mom has told me many times that she’s scared I will drink some <em>gasp</em> alcohol in college which will result in permanent damage to my psyche.</p>