Why do teenagers think they know more than adults?

Question

Adults used to be teenagers too you know.

Answer 1

While the statement "Adults used to be teenagers" is true, the comparison between teenagers THEN and today's teenagers is hardly on an even playing field.

As the mother of three boys, 20, 17, and 16, I have found that many of the topics my children have been exposed to and/or taught at school were the very same topics that when I was a teen were thought to have been taboo and would never have been discussed openly in public.

Because of the wide spread of AIDS and STDs along with the acceptance of gay or same sex relationships, our school systems have not only taught our children what we (Adults now) were taught at home, but have really gone into detail on the topic of sex from more than just the view point that it's a fringe benefit of marriage, the way to be fruitful and multiply and a way to show one's love.

As far as "BOOK KNOWLEDGE" goes and being equipted with facts, I truely think that today's teenagers do know far more than adults did when they were teens. I feel as though many of those adults are still limited in what they know (some things you don't learn with age). Example: My mother, the grandmother of 5 boys, can not image anal sex and has no desire to know the good or the bad of it if any. Therefore she is unknowledgeable on that subject. She in turn taught me nothing of this when I was a teen so I was unable to teach my children. None of my children are gay to my knowledge but more and more I hear of straight relationships that find pleasure in anal sex. For this reason I am very glad that my children have been given the proper information that they may some day need in deciding whether this is an activity that they want to participate in.

Why do teenagers think they know more than adults? On certain topics they actually do and I think they know it. What they don't realize is that having the facts is not enough. Teenagers are not equiped emotionally to handle the consequences that often come from putting into practice some of the information that they have learned. That's when Adults knowledge from age comes into play and outweights that of the teens.

Adults often want to spare their children a lot of the mistakes they made themselves. In doing so they fail to give their teen credit for being knowledgeable at all.

If you want to be heard, try listening first. You might just learn something. Then, when the doors of communication are open, share, don't preach, don't shove anything down anyone's throat, simply share and you will be heard. Not only will you be heard but in time you will gain the respect that is truely yours along with the knowlege that your mom couldn't tell you and your dad didn't know.

Good luck and best wishes!!!!

Answer 2

Well...according to the latest science reports....the brain of teenagers has a growth spurt too. It didnt stop when they were 3 years old, as old info has it. The frontal lobe of teenagers develops the last..therefore they dont have the empathy thing nailed down yet...which is often why they do "stupid" or illegal things without thinking of the repercussions.

Also genes/environment...the kids may indeed be smarter than the parents. Parents dictate, to a degree, the IQ (and height, etc) of a child. As world knowledge increases and media/school influences same...how could they not know more than the parent...at an earlier age?

When shite happens......they still need guidance and complain mightily, when they feel they didnt gets the good info they needed before they did the "stupid" thing.....the info you were only too ready to tell but they didnt want to hear.

Teenagers think they know more because if they want to fly the nest eventually, they have to feel they have the knowledge, safety and control...to be able to do so...or they'd still be living at home way past the overdue date. If yours feel they know more than you...you are, and have been, on the right track. Just relax in the knowledge that they will have kids too eventually and be equally dismissed! ;)

Answer 3

Great question. The teenagers on this forum will say you're just jealous because you're old, or older.

From experience of once being a teen, at that age one thinks they know it all. Boy oh boy, have they much to learn. It's not saying they are unintelligent, but the world has many things and experiences ahead of them that they cannot possible know about.

Answer 4

Well, usually they do know certain things more than adults. Ie. computers and internet stuff (unless the adult is a computer engineer).
However in most aspects of life like job relationships and love adults are wiser.
It is a lack of experience what makes them belive that, and as a consequence they must learn of their own mistakes.

Answer 5

They just want so bad to be grown up that they think they are always right, but little do they realize how hard being an adult is, so when they actually DO become adults they finally realize, HEY, maybe I don't know everything. I should have listened to my parents"

Answer 6

Alright...I'm 19 years old, so I think I can answer this question correctly!

I used to think I knew more than my mom/dad because I wanted to be right. I also didn't think that my parents knew what I was going through...I mean, it's been a while since they were teenagers, and we think that what we go through, that they couldn't have possibly gone through that...but we're obviously wrong! We feel like we have to prove ourselves...by trying to make other people think we are right! It's also a pride thing!

Hope that helps...

Answer 7

they know more about certian things that adults did not experience when they were tenneagers and are not experienceing as adults now. it's not that they know more but are experiencing new things and different things. and that is for the most part all most young adults or teenagers if you wish know. not that they know more they just know different things.

and there is nothing wrong with having confidence in yourself and being a little cocky.

Answer 8

Adults are not confused and they're not ambivalent," says Deborah Wadsworth, executive director of Public Agenda, which conducted the study. "Instead, they're virtually riveted by the need to teach kids integrity, ethical behavior, respect and civility." Only 12 percent of the 2,000 adults surveyed said it was common for children to treat people with respect. See More: https://tr.im/iwant

Answer 9

sure, we used to be teenagers, but sometimes they do know more than us.
they know more about their immediate situation than we do. they know what it's like to have to go to school with clear backpacks. they understand viscious cliques more than we ever could, b/c cliques are way worse now, than they used to be.

so, sometimes they do know more than us, but it's in a different way.

knowledge and wisdom doesn't always come with age. those to virtues come with experience and from what i've seen...teens are experiencing a lot more now than when i was their age and i'm only 26.

so, work with your kids and keep up good, healthy communication. let them make some mistakes on their own and allow them the freedom to learn from those mistakes.

if we hold a bird too tightly, it will never be able to fly. if we let it go too soon, it will never know that we are home. if we allow it to fly at the right times, then it will come back and be it's own bird.

take care.

Answer 10

Because they havent learned better yet. And some adults well technical adults dont even realize it until they are about 30. Life just hasnt taught them better.