I am 17-years-old. I am young and still a child. I am thrust into the world with responsibilities, and for the most part, I keep up with them. I am running to reach expectations and then I hear the words that ring in my mind every day, “act your age.”

What is acting my age?

I am 17.

We teenagers are an impulsive and immature bunch, but people tell us to act our age as if it means being responsible and mature. According to The Partnership to End Addiction, common traits in teens are “difficulty holding back or controlling emotions, a preference for high-excitement, exploration, and new activities, inadequate planning, limited judgement, and more risky and/or impulsive behaviours.”

So, when we do something wrong, and someone gets mad and tells us to act our age, really they are not understanding or being compassionate about the fact that we are acting our age. 

We will do stupid things, everyone does, and that doesn’t make us bad people. 

Being young and stupid is a part of life. Bad decisions are a part of us as a species. The fact that we are cognizant and aware of the things we do makes it understandable that, having to make choices in life, we are likely to make decisions that are questionable or bad, plainly put.

When developing as a person, making bad choices teaches our brains even if it takes a few tries first. We need to be compassionate for those around us that falter. Of course some mistakes are unforgivable, but doing something miniscule and dumb can always be forgiven.

All in all, I am just trying to say that when someone young does something wrong, usually there are underlying reasons as to why. A person’s first response should never be “act your age” because it just makes them feel guilty and misunderstood. We are impulsive and irrational at times, but it is a part of us, especially at our age.