Perceptions lead town hall talk on teenagers

By CHRIS PORTER • Daily Tribune Staff

MARBLE FALLS - Local leaders have a message for teens considering dyeing their hair purple: Go for it.

While that’s not the message you’d expect to hear at a forum designed to change some adults’ negative perceptions of teenagers, speakers at Monday’s Boys & Girls Club of the Highland Lakes town hall meeting shared one main piece of advice - “Be yourself.”

The Keystone Club’s “Changing Our Perception of Teens” forum was designed to break certain stereotypes of teenagers shared by adults, according to club member Megan Edwards.

“Yes, I have been judged,” she told the audience. “Did you judge me by my hair, which is an expression of my culture, or by the color of my skin, which is an expression of my background?” Edwards is black.

Marble Falls Mayor Raymond Whitman put it more bluntly.

“Most adults do not have a negative perception of teenagers, but there’s a group giving ya’ll a bad name. When I was preparing to speak here tonight, I called several older people in the community to ask them their opinions on teenagers,” he said. “The things they touched on repeatedly were personal hygiene, appearance, courtesy and form of address.”

Some teens may not be aware others’ perceptions depend on individual actions and attitudes, according to Marble Falls High School teacher Cindy Roberts.

“It’s your job to make sure others get the right perception,” she said. “The way you see yourself may not be the way others see you.”

Whitman told the gathered teens to consider their audience when dressing for a meeting, going to church, or just hanging out.

“As a business person, whenever you come into my office to apply for a job, you need to dress the part,” he said. “You dress and act differently in church than you do when you’re out with your friends.”

Some teens could also work on being more courteous, Whitman added.

“Say ‘yes sir’ and ‘yes ma’am,’” he said. “These are the things that will set you apart. Treat others as you want to be treated. My grandmother used to tell me, ‘Good manners take you where an education won’t.’”

Of course, perception works both ways, according to Juvenile Probation Officer Marc Bittner.

“We asked a group of kids in trouble what they needed most from their parents,” he said. “The three things that came up the most were kids who want their parents to spend more time with them, rules that were consistent, and for their parents to stop yelling. In family counseling, we always says there’s only so much open space in your head - when you open your mouth wide to yell, your ears get smaller.”

State District Judge Gil Jones said above all, self-perception is the key to success.

“I encourage you to go forth and work on those perceptions,” he said. “And parents, I ask you to encourage your teens to be themselves, even if that includes purple hair.”

That message resounded with Keystone Club members at the meeting.

“It means so much to us to see the people coming here to hear what we have to say,” club member Valerie Connelly said. “Most people say ‘they’re just kids,’ but what we have to say is just as important.”

Whitman said most adults are happy to speak with young community members.

“There is nothing I enjoy more than getting feedback from kids in our community,” he said. “I urge you to go to the older people you know in your community when you have a question, or need advice. Don’t be afraid to ask. There is so much untapped wisdom there.”

chris@thepicayune.com

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Perceptions lead town hall
talk on teenagers