Not Old

That's youth.


The Youth Of Today.

While I'm at it in full grumpy old woman mode, don't you just hate the youth of today? Lurking. Wearing hoodies. Skulking on street corners just waiting to mug some unsuspecting passerby. Vandalising our cars, shops, streets. All on drug-fuelled crazy rages. They're frightening!

Not really.

As with all sectors of humanity, there's some nasty little oiks around. But I'd like to sing the praises of much of our youth. They're fun. They're full of enthusiasm. They think they know it all which can be hugely amusing as they don't, but they most certainly aren't stupid. They work hard for the most part. At school we test them year after year. They study, they revise, they sit exams. More and more frequently. They like loud music and didn't most of us as teenagers and young adults? Some of us still do even though we are no longer young.

Being a mum, I've gone through the education bit from playgroup to nursery to school to university. SATs, GCSEs, GNVQ's A-levels and on to degree level.

The vast majority of YOUTH I meet are well, NORMAL. Yes, they may wear hoodies some of the time, but under that scowl, the teenage acne and angst lurks a human being that wants to get through education with good enough exam results to go on to a decent university, get a decent job and have a bit of fun. The ones I have met due to the fact of being a mum have been, for the most part, a likable bunch and no hassle at all whenever they've been round at my place. They've been a good bunch of mates to each other. They've not been in any sort of trouble. They've got interests in all sorts of things, but not in wanting to get smashed out of their brains, get into fights or cause mayhem wherever they go. They're all too busy growing up, studying, working, worrying about student finance, getting a job...

And they're fun.