it's just a stage

I would never want to be a teenager ever again, you couldn't pay me enough money to turn back the clock (although I would accept the wrinkle free face, the lack of grey hairs, and the thighs without cellulite without much complaint)
But I do really like teenagers, they are fascinating creatures. There are a lot of complaints about the teenagers of today, but really it is the same re-hashed complaint that has been around since the term teenager was coined. There is nothing new about teenagers, except they can carry their music collection around with them in their pocket. Teenagers can be very predictable; show them a segment of South Pacific because you are studying musical theatre and they will predictably groan at the idea of expanding their viewing sphere, ask them to read a book that isn't Twilight and they will expel a loud groan at the mere idea of broadening their minds. Tell them they are having a day off and they will whoop and holler, give them pizza and they will inhale it faster than a fast thing. I sometimes (like most adults) find some of their behaviour tedious and exasperating but on the other hand I also find it really reassuring. It shows that they are normal human beings, progressing just as they should be through an awkward and confusing stage.
But sometimes they are not predictable and this is the thing I like the most, I love it when they step outside the boundaries we have set for them and they wow us. These are sometimes little things and sometimes they are pretty big. A couple of weeks ago four girls at East shaved their heads to raise money for cancer, they raised around $4000. I don't know about you but you could not pay me that much to shave mine right now, and to think that a teenage GIRL could do that astounds me. That is a pretty big thing.
Sometimes they surprise in small ways. Like the 5 Coll boys who pushed an East teacher's car into the school car park after it had broken down on the road, or Bennett when he gave up his TV programme so that the little girl my sister was babysitting could watch kiddie programmes. These things might me small, but they are just as good. These are the things I like to think about when it comes to teenagers.
Some days I just love my job, being surrounded by these strange creatures all day. At one point today I was almost moved to tears by how special my Year 10 drama class are, when they created a funny and original musical number from a small 30sec non-musical script I had given them. I can only hope that I step outside my boring, predictable adult 'stage' sometimes and wow them too.