# What do teenagers call themselves?



## AllisonR (May 5, 2006)

When my DSD was 13, I called her a kid and a teenager. In a nice way, she said not to use those words, instead call her a young person, or youth. Is that what 13-20 year olds are calling themselves now - young person? It makes me feel so old, but I guess that's my problem.

I feel really un-cool. I don't live in the states anymore, so I don't know the lingo. And even if I did, I am not sure I would be up on all of it anyway. What are the words "young people" are using today?


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## orangefoot (Oct 8, 2004)

I just asked my 'teen' and he said "I'm 14, that's all"

that probaly doesn't aswer your question though!


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## nolonger (Jan 18, 2006)

My ds and his friends call each other "dude!" so much that my adult dd and I have taken to referring to them collectively as "the dudes", but not to their faces.

He's very much (way too much IMNSHO) into the commercial teen culture and refers to himself as both "kid" and "teenager".


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## angelpie545 (Feb 23, 2005)

I think it depends on the kid. You are what you are, it's just a matter of finding a word that you like to desrcibe it. They all have the same meaning. I never minded being called a teenager. In fact, I hated being called a "young adult" because no one treated me like I was in close to being an adult. I figured why call me that if you don't intend on treating me as such? I didn't mind "young person" though.


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## kerikadi (Nov 22, 2001)

14 y/o DS calls his friends/classmates kids. "The kids at school".

Keri


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## ^guest^ (Jul 2, 2005)

It sounds like your DSD is socially conscious and does not want the stigma of "teenager" applied to her. Think about how many derogatory things you hear, directly or indirectly, about "teens".


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## Shann (Dec 19, 2003)

I think Neoma is right. I swear that sometimes ir seems like people use the term "teen" to be synonomous with "diease." I hear people say, "well, if you've got teens, you know what I mean!" Or "She's a teen; what do you expect?" I've even known of people who scrunch up their faces and say "You've got TEENAGERS??" I think comments like that do a huge disservice to a wonderful age group. In my opinion, if we would let teens have more say in the way things run, things might even be better in this world!


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## 2mama (Feb 3, 2006)

Kids, girls, boys


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## <~*MamaRose*~> (Mar 4, 2007)

When I asked my son this question he looked at me and said “I’m a man!” which of course made me laugh! We giggled over the fact that he doesn’t even have any facial hair yet so ummm “man” wasn’t quite accurate yet! When I asked him for a serious answer he said that he and his friends refer to each other as “guy” or “girl”…”There was a guy at school today…”


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## AlpineMama (Aug 16, 2007)

Guy I think is great for that in-between stage. I know plenty of males my age even (24) who I wouldn't call MEN. They're guys. Then there are 17 year olds who I would think of as a man. (Not many, lol, but they exist.) It depends on maturity; you have to earn the label.

It's harder for females... I actually called myself a FEMALE as a teenager, for lack of a better word! I only think of myself as a WOMAN now that I'm a wife and mother. Being a wife/mother doesn't define ME as a person but it does define my current stage in life I suppose somewhat. Before that I was still floating around in that in-between phase.


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## ^guest^ (Jul 2, 2005)

I wanted to add, I like that your DSD has chosen "young person" as her preferred terminology. I remember I started become very socially conscious when I was about 14 - especially about issues pertaining to my age group (over- criminalization and abuse of human and civil rights by authorities, mostly). I hated the fact that teenagers were barely considered people. Changing the terminology to imply that yes, teenagers are human beings as well, is a step in the right direction to me


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## Baby Rose (Feb 8, 2005)

***


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## PikkuMyy (Mar 26, 2004)

When I was a teen, we said,

"We're the kids in America
We're the kids in America
Everybody live for the music-go-round"










I think I would have referred to myself as a young adult or teen.


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## ASusan (Jun 6, 2006)

This thread reminds me of a section called, "Don't Call Them 'Kids'" in the Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood text that I teach out of.

It summarizes national survey research which did a random sample of U.S. teens and what they prefer to be called. Of course, it was done in 1990, so a little old. Here are the results:

What teens prefer to be called:

Label very acceptable somewhat acceptable not acceptable
Young Adults 64% 30% 6%
Teenagers 60 35 4
Young men & women 59 34 4
Teens 53 40 6
Youth 29 55 16
Adoelscents 19 60 19
Boys & girls 10 40 49
Kids 10 40 49
Children 7 21 71

I think it was a forced choice survey, so they couldn't just say "dude" - the respondant had to say how much they agreed with each label.

I don't like calling children "kids." I _try to use the term children (when referring to someone under 10 or so). Our dept assistant calls the college students "kids." I cringe whenever she says it. It sounds so disrespecful._


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

i hated "young people" when i was a teenager.... its what a lot of older adults used, and it annoyed me for some reason.... i dont think my friends and i ever called ourselves "teens" we mostly used girl or guy, or something along the lines of dude. i also said "the kids at school"


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