If you're over 40, do you remember what it was like being a teen?

I remember very well, and I am around teenagers daily. Some have not much to say, some are charming companions.

Each generation must distinguish itself from the last – that’s how teen-agers individuate. I was a teenager in the late 60s, and probably was considerably out of control by nearly anyone’s standards, let alone my parent’s.

I don’t think things are nearly as confrontational today; we even enjoy a lot of the same music.

Shit, I’m only in my mid-20s and I can barely remember…

I remember being a teen. Which year would you like to know about? The year puberty hit, like around 13? The year I got my DL, 16? The year I turned 19 only to have Iowa raise the drinking age to 21?

I understand today’s kids, and remembering what myself and my peers were like, I know what they are capable of. Of course, we didn’t have the gangs and drive by shootings BS back then, but there was still plenty of ways to get into pretty deep trouble.

Sometimes, I kid that there should be an open hunting season on teens, although we’d have to marinate them for several days to get the ‘know-it-all’ bitter angst taste out of the meat.

@MacBean wait til you hit your 30’s and 40’s, those memories all come back as regrets.

I do, but I recently read that many memories of actual events are faulty. The memories of the feelings during different events is firmly in my mind.

This is easy! My teen years were about sex, alcohol, sex, rock and roll, sex, zits, sex, cars, sex. Not much has changed.

I remember. I was such a goody-goody. Student council, worked after school, debate and track and soccer and field hockey… and I showed nerd-like tendencies with my Python and my Beatles and my Doctor Who. Things weren’t so good at home between the simultaneous overprotection (mostly from boys) and the scariness of the ongoing abusive situation with my caretaker.

I can relate to teens, but I never say anything about that to them. I mainly keep my mouth shut and let them talk. My nieces and nephews think I’m pretty cool. I have no desire to be that adult who tries to be down with the kids, because people like that struck me as phony and bloody well creepy, much like Dave Foley in this sketch.

I don’t think that teens have changed in any essential ways, they just have different toys than we did and that’s changed the level of their games. Facebook and Twitter and the like have changed the nature of teenage privacy. Teens were never private, gossip and judgmental behavior was always rampant, except we didn’t have Facebook to tell the entire world what we thought about Cindy Lou Who being a “like, a total slut or something, OK, and like, did you know Stan’s on, like, coke? He’s totally doing coke before 4th period?” It would’ve just been the entire school.

yes! ...had a lot of fun

I largely remember, though I’m sure I’ve forgotten some of it. I think teens are internally much the same, but the environment they’re in is very different now than mine was then. So they don’t necessarily act, react or respond the same ways I/we did back then, nor would I expect them to…

Yep. Had to walk to school every day in seven feet of snow. Four miles each way. We also had to milk a cow. But couldn’t afford a bucket. So we had to collect the milk in our cupped hands.
Not to mention shoes made out of old tires. Those were the days.

@pinkparaluies Great imagery going on here . Give us some more ! Sort of a Rocky Horror on the Prairie.

I still have many of the same insecurities.

Yes I remember, and I’m only 38 and ½ years old! :P

Vividly. I am now the mother of 2 teens and a tween, and while they seem very different than I was at their age(s), I don’t think teens now and teens then – as a whole – are that different. I attribute the differences between my teen years and theirs to a complete lack of parenting while I was growing up. I did whatever the hell I wanted, and was far too mature for my years. They seem much more innocent, and for that I am entirely grateful.

@virtualist I would, but its past 7 in the evening. Got to get to bed. Not to mention a killer migraine x_x

I remember and I still cringe at a lot of the memories.

I do think there are a lot of differences though and of course I can only speak in generalities, but there does seem to be less respect for authority. As a kid, I would never have dreamed of arguing with a cop or a teacher or even parents, that sure seems different now. Lack of respect for others property is another, we were not angels but there always seemed to be a line that was not crossed. I don’t think the line exists anymore.

Maybe I am just old and cranky. I can’t figure why they all like to hang out here and annoy me???

i happily remember teens-sex, love and rock and roll. i also grew up late 60’s-early 70’s-best music, The Pill, antibiotics.

I did a lot of journaling then and on through my twenties, so I have a direct channel to my teenage mind. It is all the help I need to remember why I say I wouldn’t be seventeen again for anything.

The social environment has changed so much through the influence of media that I can’t say I really understand the experience that teens are having now. But I can remember a lot about what it was like when I was a teen in the sixties, especially since at the time I promised myself I’d remember certain things in case I ever had kids.

I do remember. I often wonder if I would develop amnesia if I were a parent like others seem to. I don’t think kids are that different today as @augustlan said.

@pinkparaluies Shoes made from tires? You were lucky. We had to wrap newspapers around our feet and secure them with twine.

I remember well how awful it was to be 15. The only thing I am critical of towards todays youth is the sagging pants thing. I think it’s hysterical.

@mrentropy – Luxury!

Best we could do was hope the snow would ice over the soles of our bare feet and perhaps we could slide down the road, if it wasn’t too covered with gravel and solid mud.

I just reconnected with an old high school friend. He said, “Judi, you were ahead of your time.” I was always a free spirit and although there is a lot I have forgotten, the feelings remain. I remember the pain and the confusion, and I even remember the release and escape that I got from doing drugs.
I had my children pretty young so when their teen years came, my memories were still pretty fresh. I was always the youngest mom. I Think that helped me keep perspective.
There are a few “modern” issues that I still struggle with, but I continue to learn. That’s one of the reason I love fluther. There are so many young people here that keep my mind open and keep me aware of all the things going on in the world.
My kids are so busy raising kids now that they are in that stage where we start to loose touch. I think I sometimes understand more of what’s going on right now than they do. It’s funny when my daughters come to ME for fashion advice!!

Yes, I very much remember what it was like being a teen. I distinctly remember how I felt about a number of conflicts between myself and my parents, but at the same time I can now see why the conflicts happened, and how my judgment was not what it should have been.

I can both sympathize and empathize with my daughter these days (she is 17), although I can also see how she wants to make decisions I cannot approve of for her safety. However, to her credit, she is able to discuss these situations with me and understand why I say no even if she still thinks she could handle things just fine on her own.

And while I don’t like some of the music she listens to, I do like some other songs she enjoys, and I remember how important “our music” was to me, so I can share some of her music with her.

My son is another kettle of fish in that 1) he is a boy, 2) he is ADHD, ODD and Bipolar, and 3) he is terribly self-centered and has the emotional maturity of someone who is around 8 or 9 years old. You cannot discuss anything with him. Ever. Fortunately he has not been arrested for anything, although he has come close.

@Darwin – Your daughter doesn’t look 17, I thought she was 12 or 13 in the pic! (Don’t tell her I said that)

@rooeytoo – She hates that, but she does admit it may come in handy in her thirties and forties.

@Darwin I was the same way and it is true, the older I get the more I like my youthful looks (not that they are that youthful anymore, heheheh)

i remember having a lot of conflict with my mother and stepfather, and as a result i would try not to be home when they were home, and i never ever watched tv with them, therefore, to this day i don’t know much about 80’s tv shows.

i was insecure about my looks, my body, my clothes.

i remember wanting to be anywhere other than home, even if i was at a friend’s house doing absolutely nothing. i remember not wanting my driver’s license until my friend got one at age 18, and then i was jealous and that was my incentive.

i remember having not much money at all. i drank but was not a big drinker or drug taker.

i remember fucking like a rabbit.

i don’t feel especially bad for today’s teens. i think being a teen is hard no matter when you lived. i hope when my daughter is a teen it’s not too traumatic for her or for me as a mom helping her through and dealing with her growing independence.

I remember everything. Sometimes it is a curse.
I also have memories of being in my mothers womb.

I remember as though it were yesterday….unfortunate, for my children…hehehe!

I’m over 60, and I remember every moment. It allows me to have a great deal of empathy toward my fellow stoonts who are generally more than 40 years my junior. It helps that I have raised two kids to adulthood, and that my twins are now 12½!