Why is it that teenagers in groups are so pointlessly loud?

[begin_within]

So unnecessarily loud, laughing excessively at stupid things that aren't really that funny and always trying to grab attention of the group? My next door neighbors are having one of these idiotic gatherings with giggly laughter over nothing puncutated by short little screams and they keep going outside and then back in and won't sit still. What causes this?

[Floogeldy]

1. My, my, my.

Have you already forgotten what it is like to have all of that teenager joy and energy? Fuddy duddy! ;)

[begin_within]

5. Easy for you to say... you don't have to hear it for five hours nonstop.

[GalleryGod]

64. Well put,indeed!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Placebo]

11. I had NO teenage energy!

And I'm only a couple weeks away from being out of my teens!

[Jed Dilligan]

16. I must have missed out on the joy and energy

I was one of those kids who wear black, smoke cigarettes, and flip people off for no reason. Now why did I do all that? As much of a mystery as why the cute well-adjusted ones always acted so maniacally happy, IMO.

[aquaman]

2. Easy question.....

Because they are TEENAGERS!!!!!!! That's what they do.

[LostinVA]

48. You got it -- I'm 41, and my teenage niece and nephew can drive me bonkers

ESPECIALLY when they're around their friends... but, they are teenagers. They are good kids... just often loud, annoying, and very conformative in their faux nonconformative way. I forgive them their obnoxiousness, because we all were obnoxious in our own way.

I especially love it when my nephew and his friends say "dude" about 52 times a minute...

[LeftyMom]

3. When do they finally grow out of it?

My 21 year old sister keeps her tv so loud it rots my brain from the other end of the house and conducts her phone conversations at a volume more appropriate for a crowded dance club. Will she outgrow this soon or should I just learn to love my hearing difficulties?

[NMMNG]

8. Some of them don't

Time after time I go to work to discover the clients and/or the staff I'm relieving watching TV at the most obnoxious volume. One of my coworkers doesn't talk on the phone, she yells on the phone, even when the house is completely silent around her (she's nearly as loud when talking to people in person). I'll go into places sometimes and hear piercing laughter, screeches or just loud voices from people having conversations and wonder why they think the entire facility needs to hear what they are doing. Did these people forget the manners they were taught or were they never taught them to begin with? :shrug:

[Common Sense Party]

75. Uh...kick her out?

I mean, tell her those noise levels are unacceptable--especially if you have children in the house (?)--and if she refuses to be polite, tell her to find a new place.

Or is she not a guest in your home?

[Dangerously Amused]

4. Eh... I was one of 'em once.

I have NO IDEA what was THAT funny back then... but... it was. It just... was.

And we weren't even stoned or anything. Just being goofy, exuberant teenagers.

Now when I see kids like that I just think god what I wouldn't give to have that kind of joie de vivre again, completely enamored with life before all the responsibilities of adulthood set in. And I know it will end all too quickly for them, so I just smile and try to enjoy them having their fun.






Edit: pathetic spelling and grammar error

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

6. Not only do teenagers do it.

I know 20 year olds and 40 year olds who do it on an everyday basis.

[Ava]

7. i don't know, and i'm a teen

i swear some of my peers get on my last nerves. they also think that everyone else in the world wants to listen to that crappy noise of their's that they call music.

[ariesgem]

34. Sorry to get off the topic

but I saw you on CNN tonight. Good Job!!

[begin_within]

9. They left!!! There is a God after all. Oh, the sweet relief and the quiet!

[Ladyhawk]

10. Wow, I had the same experience tonight.

There were three girls lying on the sidewalk and one of them was talking on a cell phone. She was laughing maniacally, non-stop, for what seemed like eons. It was annoying as hell. I couldn't help myself and yelled, "What have you been smoking?" This elicited more maniacal laughter...gee, couldn't have guessed that, could you? :) I waited a few minutes then asked if she had any left. More obnoxious laughter.

At first it wasn't too bad, but after it had gone on the whole time I was emptying my car, it was getting old. Very old. "Jesus Christ, shut the fuck up!" I muttered under my breath. I was a good Ladyhawk and didn't say it out loud to the girls.

The one girl was behaving so strangely I really do wonder if she was on something. :shrug: I mean I know teenagers are ditsy and weird and laugh for no reason, but this was over the top.

[Placebo]

12. ***TEENAGE RANT OF MY OWN***

I was on the train the other day, and it was packed so I had to stand near the door for the whole ride. And it was like 90° that day so I was wearing flip flops, and at one stop this friggin' pack of like 13-14 year old (I'm guessing) idiot "skaters" get on, carrying their skateboards and bags of chips and bottles of coke and shit. And there is like no room for them to get on, but they push their way on anyway. And none of them has any free hands to hold onto anything so they are flying all over the place bumping into people, dropping their stuff, all the while laughing up a storm as loud and obnoxiously as they could saying stupid things like "God I'm so high right now!" or "Fuck you you fag!". And of course, right before they got off, the train rocked suddenly and one of the boys stumbled right onto my bare feet (ouch).

I was so damn close to losing it, and I'm a pretty mellow guy most of the time.

So I say, fuck teens. Fuck stupid kids. Youth is no excuse for being a dick.

(I'm a few weeks away from my 20th birthday, by the way)

[pitohui]

13. are these young ladies by chance?

because i hate to tell you but we middle-aged ladies also get in these groups where we have idiotic gatherings w. giggly laughter punctuated w. short little screams and we keep going in and coming back and won't sit still

what causes it in our case is apple-tinis but i do remember doing it as a teen before the apple-tini was invented

so maybe it's a side effect of estrogen?

[begin_within]

15. Some young ladies, some young men, some indeterminate.

[Omphaloskepsis]

14. GYOFB.

[begin_within]

18. SIUYA.

[bedpanartist]

17. because teenagers are stupid

that's why. I thought everyone knew that. I was an idiot when I was that age. We all were.

[Skittles]

35. um, no we all were not

some of us had overwhelming responsiblities as a teenager and did not have a lot of fun

[bedpanartist]

41. its a matter of time, and experience...

and not much else. I had lots of responsibilities too. Don't take it personal, it's just a fact of nature: more experience and time = more wisdom.

[Midlodemocrat]

54. Well, mine aren't. They're great kids. Loud, but great.

[djeseru]

19. Attention?

Most of the ones I come across usually dress, talk and behave as though they were starved for attention and will go to great lengths to gain it...I believe I did the same in my youth in my manner of dress but not in volume or behavior.

I can't stand the shrill ones of today though...sorry.

[ghostsofgiants]

20. You know what's really funny?

I was at my friend's house Friday night, and I asked her the exact same thing about middle-aged adults. (Inspired by her parents and their friends, with plenty of experience from my family as well, to back it up.)

[ContraBass Black]

23. Really? I ask the same thing about middle aged and older adults

Every day!

[ghostsofgiants]

24. Haha...

They don't seem to understand the concept of an indoor voice. Then they told us to turn down the music we were listening to. How stereotypical can you get? Haha.

[ContraBass Black]

25. Have you noticed how their laughter triples in volume, intensity,

and frequency when they have guests?

[ghostsofgiants]

26. Liquor them up and give them a pack of cards...

And you need to get into scientific notation to express the volume increase.

[ContraBass Black]

27. And the way they drive, all the while complaining about reckless teens!

I've never seen a teenager fall asleep while driving or launch into a purple-faced rant or crash into a curb at low speed on a straight street.

[tigereye]

50. hmmm

one day, that may be you! bwa ha ha ha ha.

eh, parents are just letting off some steam after many years of caring for the little and not so little ones.

And the young ones are letting off steam, just for the hell of it. No real harm done.

[ghostsofgiants]

66. I don't drink or play cards, so NYAH!

:P

[tigereye]

69. wise-guy...

What, you don't play Uno? ;)

[ghostsofgiants]

71. I've played it once.

ONCE. :P

And I was quite quiet when I played.

[tigereye]

73. c'mon now I bet you aren't that quiet

I've played almost millions of games of Uno in my office (I work with teens and kids).

[pitohui]

32. yeah we middle agers are terrible

my mom used to call middle aged women magpies, now that i am one i know why, crap, i do it myself, i try to regulate the voice, but get the white wine and apple-tinis flowing, and we're an embarrassment to civilization i'm afraid

as for older older adults -- not middle age but actually OLDER -- they're all deaf as stones, they just don't know it, so they're going to be loud, it's a given

[Metta]

21. A mostly appropriate expression of their newfound freedom and the big bang

that their bodies are going through, hormoneally. It's part of human expression.

[otherlander]

22. Because it's their last chance

to BE loud, before the schoolsystem(tm) gets done training them and they get fed into the machine to become corporate slaves. There's really nothing after this. There will be no more carefree days to actually live their lives; they will get married and find themselves raising kids instead of feeling the passionate love they once did, most likely back in the suburbia they so long dreamed of escaping. Their identities will we lost; no longer will they be goths, preps, punks, etc. Like giant trucks slamming into low overpasses, everything they once were will be scraped away, leaving only a function: Consume. Conform. Obey. Their rebellion now may be pointless, but it's desperate, because after this, it will be mandate that everything they hold dear be tossed to the winds. We have but a short time to live, and after that, a long time of nothing at all.

[pitohui]

33. well that was pretty grim

seriously that is one of the reasons i asked if it was young ladies, because they have more outcomes, not all young ladies have to become drones, although pretty much all young men do if they want to have any $$$

ladies young and older who are carefree of work place pressures -- your ladies who lunch as it were -- can be pretty shrill but they're enjoying life so more power to them

[otherlander]

45. What is this way of not becoming a drone that you speak of?

Go on.... this is interesting.

For some reason I burst out laughing when I saw the subject of your reply. :shrug: go figure.

[Derailer]

40. I wish I could say this wasn't true

or was an exaggeration :(

[Arugula Latte]

28. They are figuring out who they are and they want to see how people react

They call attention to themselves so they'll be noticed and perceived as a Somebody, and so they won't be an invisible child. They are flexing their newly found power to affect their immediate environment.

Or something like that. :shrug:

[begin_within]

29. Update: They also threw a piece of burning wood over into my backyard.

I did not discover this until today. Last night I did smell something burning, but I assumed it was either their barbecue or candles. Today in the middle of the grass in my backyard I found a 3x3x3 inch piece of wood, half of which is not burned but the other half is burned to charcoal. And I am certain it wasn't there yesterday. I don't see how it could possibly have flown over an 8-foot fence all by itself. Fine group of kids they are.

[Midlodemocrat]

53. Well, frankly, that's a different issue than the noise.

That veers too close to vandalism.

I have three teens in my house 14, 16, 18. They are loud. Their friends are loud. I imagine I was loud when I was a kid. I don't mind it, honestly. It's a sign of life.

[begin_within]

60. Also today I discovered a 6-pack of empty Corona beer bottles in my trash.

They must have quietly slipped that into my trash bin late at night, so that the girl's mother wouldn't see it.

[Midlodemocrat]

62. I think this has crossed the line into unsavory territory.

Maybe time to have a chat with kids and/or mom? :shrug:

[begin_within]

63. The Mom is a whole 'nother piece of work herself. Want an example?

You probably don't, but here's an example. They also own an ugly dog which is part pit bull, part "uglier and grosser than a pit bull." On Labor Day 2004, they opened their car door and the dog ran out and attacked a cat in the next door neighbor's front yard (the other side of them from me). The cat was 15 years old at the time and ran down into the canyon in back. The owners of the cat were out shopping. The dog's owner (also the mother of these juvenile delinquent kids) came to my front door and told me her dog chased the cat down into the canyon, and I got my cat cage and went down there. The cat was cowering against a fence and had a bloody mouth and was covered with dirt. The cat knows me well and I put him in the cage and brought him back to my house. I called and left a message on their phone and put a note on the door and tried to care for the cat as well as I could, but he just wanted to stay curled up in the back of the cage. The owners came home and immediately came over and were very upset. They love and have taken superb care of the cat their for 15 years. This happened just 4 days before they were going to leave for England and Ireland for 3 weeks. They almost cancelled the trip, but they took the cat to the emergency animal hospital because it was Labor Day and their regular vet was closed. The cat stayed there for 3 days and nights and recovered, but ended up having to have one tooth pulled. The cat had improved enough by the time of their trip that they went, but I cared for the cat every day while they were gone and kept in touch by e-mail. Oh yeah, the vet bill was $1,800. The dog's owner never paid a cent of it. I thought the cat's owners would take her to court over it, but they never did and I don't understand why. The cat is still living now, but is going on 17 and if the dog had attacked it now, I don't think it would survive.

[Midlodemocrat]

65. How awful! How good of you to take care of that cat for them!

I hope for your sake that these folks are 'short timers' and might be moving on soon.

[begin_within]

67. They have lived there for 17 years and show no signs of moving. However,

once all 3 kids are grown and out on their own, the mother will be there alone (the father ran for his life and divorced her about 10 years ago, but still sees the kids). So maybe if she finds the "empty nest" then she will sell and move on. In the meantime I just try to ignore them.

[JVS]

78. So now you have your answer beer+fire+teens+shennanigans =loud

[mzteris]

30. brain imaging

shows that as a child enters puberty their brain starts to "shrink". It's shedding connections that have not been used (and are therefore "meaningless") - it isn't until about the age of 18 that the brain stops "shrinking" - and not until about 23-25 that it really starts to stablize.

When we ask "Why weren't you thinking?" - the answer is - they weren't.

[WannaBePassingFair]

31. What are you saying?

hahaha.

[FairVotes4all]

36. Some of us teenagers are actually quiet...

My church group however, is the loudest and most annoying group of people you will ever meet. I think it just depends on the group, Me and my friends are really quiet people.

[LostinVA]

49. You just think you are...

I always said that about em and my high school friends... my mom now says we were all good kids, but as annoying as hell when we were all together. (except my mom didn't say hell)

[FairVotes4all]

37. Some of us teenagers are actually quiet...

My church group however, is the loudest and most annoying group of people you will ever meet. I think it just depends on the group, Me and my friends are really quiet people.

[pitohui]

38. oh you can't win

i remember that double bind

if you're quiet it's all "it's the quiet ones you have to watch it" and how "sullen" you are

[Oeditpus Rex]

39. MAYBE THEIR FREEPERS!!!11

YA KNOW HOW FREEPERS YELL TO GET THERE POINT ACROSS AND USE LOT'S OF EXCLAMTOIN POINTS BECAUSE ITS HUGH!!!!11

[begin_within]

68. Believe it or not they are wealthy Jewish Democrats. Totally atypical of

the other Jewish families in this neighborhood, who are excellent neighbors. Most of these families live such quiet, unobtrusive lives that you hardly even realize they are there at all. This one famliy next door is a complete zoo - and not in a good way.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

42. it's fun? Seriously, when my friends come over, we turn up the music,

have a miniature bonfire, shoot bows/pellet guns, and be generally obnoxious

[alcibiades_mystery]

43. Laughing at shit that ain't funny = doobage

For rizzah...

[jrandom421]

44. Perfect cure for loud teenage parties next door

1. Carver M-400 Power Amp
2. Phase Linear M-4000 Pre-Amp
3. Sony 5 CD Changer set to endless sequential loop
4. Pair of JBL L-100 speakers set in window facing loud teenage party
5. Selection of CDs
a. 1812 Overture by Erich Kunzel and real cannons
b. Music for Royal Fireworks by Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony
c. Beethoveen's 9th "Ode to Freedom" Leonard Bernstein and the Berlin Phil
d. The Planets by Sir Adrian Boult and the London Symphony
e. Any John Phillips Sousa by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops

Works every time.

[ContraBass Black]

55. The Overture to Beethoven's 5th

Will do the job in half the time.

[Hand]

72. The pipes and drums of the Scots Guards works well, too... nt

[jpgray]

81. Adrian Boult's "Planets" conduction rules!

It's really tough to hear other versions on the radio or wherever. They sound wrong somehow.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

46. I'm not particularly loud.

Then again, I don't get into groups a whole lot.

;)

[Ariana Celeste]

47. I've noticed that *most* people are louder in groups.

You think teenagers are bad, you've never seen the women in my family (myself included) gathered for coffee, cigarettes, and bullshitting.

;)

[RedCappedBandit]

51. I hate it when my friends

act like that. It really irks me when we're in the movies, and they just talk as loudly as they want. Arrgh I hate people my age for the most part.
It probably has to do with the fact we don't really think about what we're doing.
Well, I do, but thats because i'm hopelessly shy and don't like people to hear my voice :D

[tjwash]

52. Complaining about the noise level is the first sign of getting old.

The second sign is when you start to use the line "kids today...."

Yeah, I've done both of them.

[hotforteacher]

56. It's a functional behavior...

...or shows poor regulation of emotion. And by functional, I mean what other DU-ers have stated in that it is getting attention. Look at it like a really weird (which it kind of is) mating ritual. Kind of like that scene in "Mean Girls" where all of the kids act like primates but still look like kids in the mall.

In a culture where Youth Culture is sold to us on a daily basis and the gross misappropriation of teenage sexuality is so fucking rampant, we would do well to ask: what is the attention that they are really craving? Breast implants anyone? Botox? We don't cherish anything appropriately anymore. Old people are condescended to and undervalued and put into corners, and young people are treated pretty much the same.

Teenagers want to be heard and known, just like the rest of us. There are so few teenagers in my high school (pop. 1500--in the school, not city) that act "respectably". There is a fostered sense of entitlement--where does it come from? Gee Wally, What Would Dubya Do?!

Most of the kids I meet are SERIOUSLY lacking in the finessing department. That is pretty normal considering that most teenagers lack a global perspective--that is something that needs to be fostered and taught intelligently...you can't BITCH it into a kid. If your kid ends up in my classroom, on my sidewalk, in my neighborhood, or next to me you can pretty much expect that they will hear something from me--good or bad.

Here's a question for you: have ANY of you walked past a group of weird or thuggish looking teenagers and complimented them about something? Tell them you like their braids, dig their interesting sense of style, or that they have an infectious laugh.

Shit, that's the quickest way to get them to shut up. Shock and positive attention.

Plus, there's that whole thing where Americans are so hung up on "privacy" that a lot of adults will tend to get pissed off when you discipline their child (and then subsequently bitch at teachers like me for not disciplining them enough). Personally, I have no problem talking to loud, obnoxious teenagers. They need boundaries set up for them, and if I am the only person to do it that day, then I have done a good thing.

An active campaign to treat people like humans would be really nice. You know, weird stuff like LOGICAL SOLUTIONS.

[Kali]

59. Always.

"Here's a question for you: have ANY of you walked past a group of weird or thuggish looking teenagers and complimented them about something? Tell them you like their braids, dig their interesting sense of style, or that they have an infectious laugh."


I always do this. Especially if with another "fearful" adult. I like stirring the shit and forcing people to see each other as people. I do it to skaters, I do it to Mormon missionaries.



That and I don't get out much. :rofl:

[Dukkha]

57. Obnoxious = Cool

that's their perspective

watch teenage boys at a theater on a date. they're falling over themselves to impress their date and act all stupid and obnoxious to shroud their insecurities and lack of social skills interacting with females. So that way they're creating an illusion of confidence and coolness.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

58. Somebody's grumpy today...

Isn't there an episode of "Matlock" you could be watching?

[Odin2005]

61. I hate it when teen girls talk in a fake "valley girls" accent

Especially the use of "like" between every other word.

[Benfea]

70. Who says it's just teenagers?

I'm pretty loud and obnoxious, you know.

[Merrick]

74. Because they're drug crazed hormone monsters

out of their minds on combinations of pot, beer, glue, acid, and whatever their bodies are providing free in vast quantities.

those were the days...

[TrogL]

76. They're rocked out on dopamine and adrenaline

[JVS]

77. Because all they can think about is the mind-blowing sex they enjoy...

while you're busy worrying about things like taxes and life insurance

[Radical Activist]

79. Why are middle aged people so boring?

They never want to do anything exciting, they always give you crap over stupid little things, and they think everyone else is supposed to act like they pretend they acted like when they were teenagers. Maybe life really does end at 30. ;)

[begin_within]

80. If you think I'm boring you haven't visited my web site

http://www.fireworksland.com/