Think back to when you were a kid, maybe ten years old or so. You went on a field trip, you went to someone’s house, it doesn’t matter where. But, when you met a new person, did he or she ever talk to you in a way that made you think, “This person obviously thinks I’m two!”? Well, it’s happened to me plenty of times, and I’m sure it happens to other kids too.
 
Now, I do recognize that kids my age are in that weird “tween” zone between kid and teen, and that it’s hard to figure out exactly how to talk to us. (Sidetracking a little, there used to be a technology director at our school who always called me “Bud,” and, after that, almost everyone called me “Bud.” I figured out it must be some kind of thing where he wasn’t quite sure what to call tween boys.) Still, there are a lot of us tweens out and about so after a while, you should start to develop a sense of how to talk to us, shouldn’t you?
 
Here’s an example that makes me wince: I went on a field trip a couple months ago and had a guide, who was clearly an expert on the subject but was not all that talented at speaking. At lunch time, we got a, “Okay, everyone. Let’s go get our lunches from the school bus! Yum yum!” Following the last part, we got a huge fake smile. Really? We’re 10, not 2. 
 
From my perspective, people should talk to us as though we are normal humans, and if we don’t understand, then we should say so. I think that people should respect us, even though we’re younger.
 
I’m not writing this so you’ll feel bad for me. This, to me, is something worth writing about. I know how it makes me feel, and I’m sure that tons of other kids feel the same way, like we are being condescended to. Kids are not little things to (fake) smile at; we are human beings who will, one day, take your place as adults.
 
So that’s “A Kid’s View” on this issue. I’d love to hear YOUR view.

Related Stories
‹
Talk Derby To Me
My favorite spring sporting event has to be the Kentucky Derby.  What stands out most during this historic horse race is difficult to decide…the sleek and athletic thoroughbreds, the diminutive yet wiry jockeys in their colorful silks, the thrill of the race itself or the chance for a long-shot filly to come from behind and […]
Parenting Page: It Takes a Village - Of Perspectives
This is a parenting page, about parenting Page. I am a child psychologist and a mother. So I specialize in children, yet I am human, thus I am full of knowledge and yet as full of emotions as any other parent. So I decided to write this Parenting Page since it might be informative and […]
Cabaret at PlayMakers
The crowd laughs, but […]
Political Power Grabs in 1875 and 2013
Republican Party. We need more moderate voices.” One of my longtime friends was tempting me, noting that his political party was in charge now. If I wanted to participate in the new regime in North Carolina, I should change my registration. “And,” he said, “we could use some […]
TABLE Celebrates its 5th Birthday
TABLE celebrated its 5th birthday with children of the South Estes Family Resource Center with a delicious and healthy carrot cake — made with carrots, whole grain flower, white flour and cream cheese icing. TABLE is a nonprofit providing hunger relief to at-risk kids in the Chapel Hill Carrboro area. They will be celebrating their […]
Sleep On It
Some mornings I wake up, check Twitter, and see the following: “The struggle is live today” or “I’m captain of the struggle bus this morning.” Did you ever think about what is the cause of the struggle? I’ll tell you: insufficient sleep. College students are probably the worst offenders when it comes to not getting […]
A Dangerous Eight Seed
Anyone who was channel surfing last Sunday had to stop and marvel at the Carolina-Miami game and how great that first half was. Even if they didn’t know the teams. That’s how good, and at such a high level, the ACC championship game was played. Both teams scored better than a point per possession, shooting […]
Light Sensitive at Nasher
Immediately upon entering the exhibit, one is greeted by images at once recognizable and disorienting. The photographs in “Light Sensitive” are not merely beautifully captured or distilled moments in time. Rather, they are hyper-consciously manufactured artistic works. In this exhibit the idea of photography as an unbiased portal into reality interacts powerfully with the more […]
The Luck of the Draw
Roy Williams wasn’t thrilled with the ACC's NCAA Tournament draw on Sunday night.
ACCT 2013: This Matters.
Who would say this tournament doesn’t matter? Try finding someone in the Greensboro Coliseum on Saturday afternoon who would tell you this is all just a big “cocktail party.” Not only was Saturday’s content potentially Maryland’s last ACC game ever, but every member of this particular UNC team was fighting to win their first tournament—of […]
›