If you're a parent, please read this.

Hi! Yes, you read right, I am a teenager who loves to write and share new ideas. I just wanted to touch base with something that I feel is not recognized enough; teenagers' lifestyles.

So before I talk about our lifestyles and what the situations are at school nowadays, I just want to say that I go to a very competitive and high-standard high-school. Hence, what I am about to share may not be as accurate as your what your children experience.

So basically...

Teenagers nowadays, including myself, are MUCH different than the teens from the 20th century.

Firstly, we have technology. Obviously. This technology has brought all us teens under pressure and complex. I swear you are glared at and made fun of if you don't have the latest Apple iPhone. I just think it's crazy how you are treated based on how 'advanced' or 'popular' the company of your phone is. I don't have an iPhone, and I when I say that most people would prefer NOT to talk to me, I am certain that the teens of 2020 would hundred-percent believe me. I have spent days, weeks, months, YEARS, trying to convince my family to get me a fancy iPhone. I have spent nights CRYING, thinking that I am an absolute failure because I don't have the iPhone 11.

Now this is coming from a student with an overall 4.0 GPA, a representative of student council, a student that cries to their parents to get registered for summer school (because I enjoy it so much), and a student with multiple academic awards. I am often referred to as a "nerd" or a "grandma." I'm okay with it, but that most definitely does NOT mean that I don't want to be a trendy, popular and likable teenager at school.

The point of me babbling about how strange my life at school is to make parents understand that we teenagers just want to live up to the expectations of students our own age. How crazy is that..?

We teens want to be popular, with the perfect hour-glass body, perfect grades, 10+ friends, and trendy. And we teens, we foolish teens choose to believe that this is all possible by having the latest iPhone, Lulu lemon leggings, Nike socks, Champion sweaters, and Nike Air Force 1s or Vans shoes. Now all these things all equal to over $2,500 dollars (maybe even more!)

I hate hate hate HATE that the amount of friends you have or the amount of people that like you, all depend on how many of the latest "trendy" items you have. Like having one or two of them is fine, I actually adore those Nike AF1s, but it's basically like a competition at school (at my school at least). People are so spoiled and into trends, that they're willing to spend $99 on Lulu Lemon leggings, and BRANDED socks. Branded socks??! Every girl prettier, skinnier, and more popular than me, have EVERY one of those items. All they wear are branded clothing. I am considered "not-popular" or "at-the-bottom" of everyone else just because my parents, who spend every second of their day rubbing their knees across the floor just to provide for me and my brothers, taught me to use money wisely and with consideration?

It's not that I'm poor and can't afford these things, why else would I be at one of the greatest and most competitive high-schools in the city? My parents and elderly have patience and sustainability. They have trained me to live life to the fullest even if I don't have branded socks.

I just want to be clear: please don't spoil your children with these trendy and expensive items. Please please please. There are less fortunate people out there, and I get so emotional when I think about how they are living their lives. Please don't let your teen make his/her peers feel horrible for not spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of leggings.

I see teens my own age look at me with disgust when they see me wearing any brand other than Nike, Champion, Vans, or Lulu.

All I ever wanted to do was have the best high school years of my life, but instead, I spend every second of my life evaluating how awful the brands I wear are, or how I'll ever be popular at school.

Please teach your children to avoid these brands or these traps called "trends." These trends cause depression and severe complex amongst teenagers such as myself.

Thank you :)