I’d change the homophobia, the fear and the hate,

The suppression of expression we face each day,

The way they look at us as though we’re not quite right,

The way bullying is brushed off, because the victims need to change,

The way teachers look at us, imagining the day we’ll be deadbeats,

When really, we dream of the darkest sunset,

A place where acceptance is all that we receive,

Not nicknames like Goth, Emo, or scene

 

I’d change the way they scowl at us

When we walk down the street

Always suspicious

Because teenagers in a group

Must be up to no good

 

I’d change the way they tell us we need medication

To stop our own opinions from seeping through the cracks

Of our dull, emotionless exterior

 

I’d change the way they look at us without hope,

Like we’re all just animals

Incapable of making decisions or choices,

Because we’re just teenagers

 

I’d change the way they dismissed our opinions and beliefs

Wrote it off to hormones, discredited our feelings

Because we’re simply a puppet

Being thrown around in the tides

Of our hormonal ocean

 

I’d change the way they silence us

In the middle of class

When we voice our opinion

As it’s different-

And therefore is insane- just like us

 

I’d change the way they look at us

Disgusted or afraid

Confused as to why

We say what we say

 

We will never be like you-

We never want to be

Labeling children as they walk down the halls

Ignoring the insults they hurl at us all

Because we’re just teenagers,

Incapable of genuine emotion

 

I’d change the way they watch us

Confused to why we remain silent

Because once your opinion and thoughts

Are bludgeoned down so many times,

Silence is your protector

 

I’d change the way they handle us

Like cattle funneled through hallways

Numbered and tagged

Passed and flagged

 

Disciplined as a result of choices we made,

Not given a voice to speak and to say

Why we do the things that we do

Because we’re just teenagers- inferior

 

I’d change the belief that a different opinion

Makes you a lesser person

That your style of clothing reflects your mental stability

That freedom of expression is blasphemy

 

I’d change the belief that teenagers are inferior,

Because we’re all just kids who grew up