Teen Panel

I know I promised to write more about larger than life characters this week but I’ll have to put that aside for a week.

As a forty-something-year-old writing Young Adult, I was worried I was out of touch with teens. It seems most YA books depict the cheerleaders as sisters of Satan who rule the school spreading fear along with their legs. I don’t buy it. Maybe because my two daughters were cheerleaders... Anyway, I decided to go directly to the source. I gathered some teens in our neighborhood together and invited them to meet me at Starbucks--my treat of course.

I had a great time and I don’t think they thought it was too lame. In fact, they agreed to meet again!

Before, I get into my enlightenment; I’d like to share the demographics of my little group. Melissa, Callie, and Laura are juniors. Kevin is a senior and Tyler has just graduated and off to college. All of the kids live in Waxahachie and attend Waxahachie High school. In all fairness to the guys, they just happened to be at Starbucks and were roped into the conversation. They were great sports.

With cliques being such a big part of the high school experience, I asked about the groups in their school. Melissa and Laura are cheerleaders. Callie is the school mascot. So what stereotype does that conjurer? Self -centered, mean girls who rule the school? Right? Hardly.

Melissa and Laura also serve on the yearbook committee and Callie is involved with FFA (that’s Future Farmers of America for you city folk) and Advanced Theater. Hmm puts a little kink in the whole cheerleader vs. the rest of the school stereotype.

When I was in high school we called the cowboys ropers, or s--t kickers. Waxahachie is a fairly rural city, so it’s hard to separate the cowboys from everybody else. There is a group of guys who hang around their Ford F 250’s and try to avoid getting caught chewing tobacco. Those are known as red necks. But, again they are not an exclusive faction. The guys may also play football, march in the band, or serve as a class officer.

The band members good-naturedly call themselves “band nerds.” Again this does not limit their association. When my two daughters cheered in 2002-ish one of the members of their squad also marched with the band during half time.

Okay so the message is clear, not all cheerleaders are bad and not all band members are nerds. So what about the other groups?

Geeks still exist, so do jocks, and skaters. Have you heard of “emo”? Me either. Emo stands for emotional. These kids dress almost Goth, but with a twist. They are very emotional. The guys are often seen wearing girl’s jeans and they wear them really, really tight.

I had to ask about the mean girls. I know they exist, who are they? Not names just what group is an honest representation of them. According to my panel, “Mean girls think they are popular but really they’re just mean. They don’t rule the school.”

So clique-talk out of the way, here’s a list of questions and answers.
What are the hot T.V. shows?
Gilmore Girls-according to the guys Rory is totally hot!
One Tree Hill
Dirty Jobs
Mythbusters
Surprised about the last two? I was.

Favorite Movies:
Princess Bride
Big Fish
Pans Labyrinth
Men In Tights
Monty Python
Ever After
How to Lose a Guy in 10 days
John Tucker Must Die
So where are the latest movie? I was blown away that they chose older movies and I have to agree with most of them.

So you may be wondering if my brilliant cast reads. Well yes they do and often. Melissa and Laura have read many of the Gossip Girls series but are getting tired of the plots. They said they’re beginning to sound the same; they want something a little different. They have read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and loved it. And by the way if you haven’t read it, put it on your to do list. The current favorite is My Sisters Keeper.

I asked what was the assigned reading that was the biggest surprise in a good way. For Callie it was The Giver. The others agreed that it was a great book.

The kids were so open and fun to talk to. Currently, they are involved in a car chalk war with another group. It was a blast to sit back and listen to them talk. But I’ll save the war and dating for next time. I hope you learned something. I sure did. I will be meeting with them again in a couple of weeks, post your questions and I’ll ask them.

Until then, happy writing!