Rules for Spoiled Teenagers

These rules were posted in our Staffroom many years ago, now. I'd always thought them to be candidly accurate. Now that I have a teenager and spend some time with Year 7's I find myself wanting to parrot these off to the silly boys who constantly find ways to annoy each other. Or the other little group who just constantly chatter through class, no matter whether they're meant to be working or listening to the teacher. Or the two girls who think that the whole class wants to hear whatever pops into their heads. Of course, if were my list of rules, I'd probably add some that address things like basic etiquette and that being young doesn't excuse bad behaviour. Or, that you're not more special than any other person around you.

Rule 1
Life is not fair — get used to it!

Rule 2
The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3
You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping — they called it opportunity.

Rule 6
If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7
Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you think you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9
Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10
Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11
Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.