Here’s an excerpt from an article in The Age on “Being 13”. Here’s the link: http://www.smh.com.au/national/being-13-who-we-are-and-what-we-think-20130520-2jwse.html
Writing Task: Write a similar profile of a 13-year-old teenagers. Use a combination of sentence structures.
“Being 13: Who we are and what we think” by Vince Chadwick May 21, 2013
”Thirteen-year-olds are the most misunderstood people on earth,” says Brianna Robards, a promising golfer and dancer from Newcastle, NSW. ”We are treated like children and expected to act like adults”.
Harry McLeod and Miani Mischon nod their agreement. The duo hosts Primary Perspectives, an award-winning community radio show in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs on sustainability, sport, technology, social justice and the arts.
Harry turns 13 this week and when he is not interviewing the likes of Gotye he is playing sport, tracking the latest scores on his smartphone, doing his homework, or being ”just really, really tired”.
”If people didn’t tire or need sleep I would probably try and play every sport I know of in a day,” he says.
For Harry, from Canterbury, the most annoying thing about adults is what he regards as their hypocrisy.
”Teachers say if you interrupt them you will stay in for 10 minutes at lunchtime, but if you get interrupted by a teacher it doesn’t matter,” he says. ”If we are expected to act like adults they should give us the right to vote and drive cars.”
Fairfax Media has contacted more than 50 people who are, or will be, 13 in 2013 and asked them about their lives and how they feel about the age they are.
They say they feel ignored, typecast, or ”babied” by the adult world. Few read newspapers, and almost all have smartphones for staying in touch with their parents, chatting with friends and playing games.
Indeed, smartphones are near ubiquitous, but often stay pocketed. Between schoolwork, housework, friends, family, and myriad sports, there might just be too much else going on.
Will Holmes a Court, from Hawthorn says he does not often use his phone, except for listening to music, ”when I’m somewhere and there are a few minutes of waiting”.
Shakespeare’s Juliet may have been 13, but only three of those interviewed have been on a date.
Some monitor Facebook ”24/7”, while others are yet to open accounts or are already over it. Nathan Bof calls it ”Wastebook”. The cyclist, gymnast and soccer player from Reservoir doesn’t have an account because ”I don’t think the world really needs to know about you and all the little things you do”.