Teenagers' DOs and DON'Ts

It's hard being a teenager. We all know that. Just thought I'd share from my fairly recent first hand experience.

DO: Make friends. You won't be able to get better friends than in high school. By college, everybody will be all grown up and serious, with their own friends from high school. Be sure you pick the people that would stick with you even if you did stupid stuff, but that stop you from doing it for your sake.

DON'T: Be a bully. It's sooo out of style. All of the popular kids are nice to their subjects And don't let yourself be bullied either. You wanna be friends with someone? Then they should be ok with who you are - don't change your clothes, your walk or your habits for them.

DO: Take up an activity besides school. Dancing, singing, playing an instrument, a sport, acting, painting. Whatever. And that would have been a good activity to pick up since childhood. You don't want to end up being 50 and saying "I never tried anything. I think I would have been an excellent fashion designer though." Regrets is not the way to spend your adult life.

DON'T: Become buried in your after school work. Have fun. Find time to go out with your friends after piano classes. Watch a movie, go to a birthday party. Don't become a robot.

DO: Make memories. Don't skip school events. Go to the basketball games, to summer camp, to a pep rally, to the prom. Even if you go there with your friends just to make fun of the others. Staying in your room with your friends can't be more fun than mocking the people there. Well, not unless... but you're too young for that

DON'T: Skip school to stay home. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you shouldn't skip school at all. Just... do something else than sleeping in and chatting on the internet or watching porn.

DO: Learn. I know you think most of the stuff you learn are useless. I used to think that. But they're not. You don't need to be an Olympic, just... learn stuff. History is important. You need to know what wars were fought and by whom and why. Plus it's interesting. Geography is important too. The funnest thing you can ever do is travel. And what good does it do to travel if you don't know to point the country you're going to on the map? If you're lucky enough, take some History of Arts classes. They teach a lot of interesting stuff and you'll be able to impress others with your knowledge. Languages - the more the better. Physics - coz it's nice to know why we don't float here on Earth. Biology, chemistry - I don't know. I guess they help too

Take all the computer classes you can get, coz it's not enough to be a pro gamer. You kneed to know how to use a computer for other purposes as well. Literature. Very important. It broadens your horizon. It makes you think in more than 1,000 words. It helps you find your words in a conversation with the opposite sex. Plus you might get some inspiration from one of those lines. And maths - trust me, I hated maths. But it develops your thinking. It builds up your brain. It organizes you. Learn it!DON'T: As a teenager, we're expected to piss our parents off. But don't do that by flunking classes, getting into fights or jail, having abortions, doing drugs or whatever big statements you might think of. They only get pissed off at you for this because you don't seem to see that it's you're life you're destroying.

DO: Build a relationship with your parents. It's the only chance you'll get. Don't shut them off. Unless they're seriously deranged they will trust you if you prove to them that you deserve their trust. Introduce them to some of your friends. Talk to your mom about love. Talk to your dad about problems you have in school, ask him for help in a subject you know he'd be able to help you. Don't be late and if you are, let them know. It's dangerous to live in a big city like Bucharest (hell, I think it's dangerous to live anywhere, but as I said, I'm sharing my first hand experience) and when you're half an hour late, your parents will imagine the worst. Like you dead in a gutter, or in a hospital, or kidnapped by pimps or overdosed in an underground club. Try to spare them the graphics and just let them know.


DON'T: Think that your parents are the only ones who need to work to improve your relationship. You're a teenager. That usually means that you think nobody is giving you any respect and everyone is treating you like a child. You should be the first one to take yourself seriously. When you don't get to do something you'd like to don't use the line "But it's not fair! Everyone else is doing it! I hate you!" That's not grown up. Think of valid arguments. Act responsible. Don't make a fit like you are a 4 year old. You want to be treated like an adult? Adults are sensible. And put things in perspective.

DO: Act silly. You won't get another chance. Go to the park and play in the swings with your friends. Go to karaoke. Laugh your lungs out.

DON'T: Grow up to fast. Don't put on night time make-up when you go to school, or high heels for that matter. Don't get a job until at least the second year of college. Go to crappy cheap pubs instead of couture boutiques. You'll have plenty of time for that. You'll get bored of that. Trust me.

DO: Embrace your sexuality. Hormones are raging. Enjoy that. Make out, get the thrill of having a secret rendez-vous in the boys' bathroom. If you're gay, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Have fun with your body and your heart.

DON'T: Rush into having sex. You can have sex when you're 15, or you can wait until you're 23. What matters is that it's the right timing for you. Not for the other person, not for your entourage, not for your parents and definitely not for your teachers. You should be sure it's the right step. But from experience, it's more thrilling to wonder what it's like to have sex than to wonder whether this month you'll conceive a baby.

...But whatever you do, wear sunscreen