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Do you remember that line in Dazed and Confused when Randall “Pink” Floyd says, All I’m saying is that if I ever start referring to these as the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself”?
I think a lot of people probably feel that way about their high school days. And it’s true that a lot of teenagers are told that those years will definitely be the best of their lives for some reason…
I got news for you, young folks, it gets way better! But it’s also up to you to make it happen.
Should adults keep telling young people that high school will be the best years of their lives?
Let’s see what folks on AskReddit had to say about this.
1. Disheartened.
“I am senior and the number of adults that have told me that these will be the years I’ll miss for the rest of my life is disheartening.
I feel I have a lot to look forward to in life and I think the message we should be sending to kids is not “it’s all downhill from here.””
2. Missing it.
“I’m 21 and I miss high school.
Got to see all your friends everyday, did what ever you want, constantly surrounded by girls.
Now I just work 6 times a week for 12 hour days so I can afford to be alive.”
3. Maybe it was the best…?
“Ah nostalgia. I just turned 26 and have a small/growing family of my own.
It’s very rewarding, but I definitely miss all those good nights of getting f*cked up at a house party and kicking it with a bunch of people I knew.
My senior keg party was 120+ kids all camping in the mountains and making bonfires.
One of the best times of my life.”
4. Wants to go back.
“I Never smoked.
Never Drank
Never hooked up at parties, or even went to parties.When I was a teenager my only concern was getting hold of enough money to supply my D&D crew with enough Mountain Dew for our next session. We’d go through 2-3 cases in a night of that disgusting swill.
I didn’t worry about having health insurance. I didn’t worry about whether my job was going to collapse and leave me unemployed with 3 kids to feed. I didn’t worry about living in a country that doesn’t give a f*ck if one of my kids gets cancer. (which, to be clear they dont, but it still sits on my mind)
I didn’t worry about what I’ll do if my parents die, and suddenly I have to care for my permanently mentally disabled brother.
When I was a teenager, my biggest worry was if my dice would roll well for me that night and my character would be able to take out the big bad guy of the week.
God I wish I could go back to those days. Days without constant pain in my back and knees from when I worked 12 hour days 5 days a week in a factory, standing on concrete floors. Days where i don’t feel the next kidney stone getting ready to pass.
Days when I could eat whatever I wanted and i wouldn’t be stuck on the toilet for an hour. Days before I had an organ torn out because I drank half a case of mountain dew every night for years.
Being a teenager was great.”
5. Not a good time.
“High school in my opinion are some of the worst years of anyone’s life. You are basically stuck, you can’t move, you can’t earn much of a living, you can’t really do anything but stay for 4 years and suck it up.
It really is awful and if anyone tells you they were the best years of their life, the life they built afterward must have been pretty miserable.
I’m in my mid 30s with 2 kids and a wife and a job now and it’s infinitely better. I drink when and where I want, the s*x is so much better and more frequent and I don’t have to use a d*mn condom, I make money and I can move or change jobs or do whatever I want really.
It’s so much better in virtually every single way possible. I actually look forward to the day and week and month ahead of me now.
I grew up in a poor family in a sh*t neighborhood in a sh*t city (at the time at least). So your mileage may vary.”
6. Dysfunctional family.
“As someone who came from a dysfunctional family…
Despite not having any financial responsibility, my environment growing up gave me so much emotional distress that I would NEVER go back. I f*cking hated being a teenager, having no control over the irrational decisions of the “adults” in my life, and no real skills to get away and provide for myself.
I love my parents and I’m still grateful for my parents’ financial support back then, but as someone with a “real job” (which I don’t really like right now due to a dysfunctional office environment), I’d still rather have this than ever live with them again.”
7. Don’t want to do it again.
“I’m 31 and a mature student and I do catch myself looking at the youngsters and thinking, god you have no idea what’s coming, do you?
But I also absolutely would not want to revisit that time in my life either knowing what I know now, both about the world and my life.”
8. Don’t miss it.
“I absolutely do not miss being a teenager.
My parents weren’t responsible, so I had all of the responsibility of being an adult with none of the power (age, money).
I was expected to do things that actual adults would fight to deal with, in addition to everything terrible that comes with being a teenager.”
9. Pure nostalgia.
“It’s rose colored glasses.
I had a decent time in high school but I wouldn’t want to relive it. We always look back and remember the good parts and forget about the bad.
My 20s we’re F*CKING awesome, but there’s a lot of bad sh*t I would not want to relive. F*ck that. There’s no better time than the present.”
10. Keeps getting better.
“High school was pretty great for me, but college has been way better so far.
The key is to remember that nobody gives a sh*t who you are or what you do, so don’t be afraid to try new things and have fun.
Live your own life and enjoy it”
11. Not your glory days.
“You’ll miss the carefree days of being a kid/teen without responsibilities like paying bills and such, so enjoy that while it lasts.
But high school shouldn’t be considered anyone’s “glory days”.
You grow a lot in your twenties and your brain finishes developing.
But over the years you just won’t really care about what happened in high school any more.”
12. Late bloomer.
“I’m 39 and really hitting my stride. In the best shape of my life, great house, beautiful wife.
There is no set time for when the best years of your life are, but I actually feel a little bad for people that peak in high-school.
I can’t imagine how depressing it would be looking back at high-school now and wishing I was back there.”
13. Carefree times.
“I think really what adults mean when they say this is that they miss being young and relatively carefree.
I understand that high school is hard work and, as someone who hated high school so much that he actually dropped out, I understand that it actually can really, really suck major balls. But, being 30 now and looking back, I do miss being a teenager. I didn’t have to worry about bills and other stuff like that, it was nice to be taken care of by someone else (parents) and to be generally protected from serious consequences.
I remember fondly being a hoodlum – smoking cigarettes under bridges and getting sh*tfaced at house parties, flirting (or at least trying to) with girls and just generally discovering who I am and who I wanted to be. I doubt very much most adults are referring to the act of going to high school itself.
It also doesn’t mean it’s all downhill or anything, just that it’s a period in your life where you’re sort of both an adult and a child, that you will never get to experience again. There are good things about being an adult too, and you should look forward to it.”
What do you think?
Should kids be told high school is the best time of their lives, or do you think that is completely ridiculous?
Sound off in the comments and let us know your thoughts. Thanks!
