A Letter to the Grownups

A Letter to the Grownups

It's not all the grownups, 

But it's too many. 

Nothing is how it should be.  

The world is heating.  

The government collapsing. 

Yet we, 

We are only overreacting. 

Nothing is the same as it was. 

We aren't stupid, 

And we weren't born yesterday. 

We are young, 

But we are not babies. 

Everything we do 

Is too much 

Or not enough. 

Why are we never enough? 

Maybe it’s just the age, 

But if that were true, 

Haven't you been here too? 

Because you don't seem to understand 

And all you can say is that it's "those damn phones" 

And if it is, whose fault is that? 

Because we didn't come out of the womb with a phone addiction. 

It is not our fault. 

This world is not our fault, 

But it is somehow our responsibility.  

And we will fight. 

We will fight as hard as we can 

And we will try.  

But we are still only kids. 

We are not babies, 

But we are still kids. 

I know that you’re worried about us, 

But we are too. 

We are too young to worry about more than our crushes and our math test. 

But we do anyway. 

We have to. 

Our childhood ended a long time ago. 

We watched people die, 

Saw trucks of dead bodies on the news. 

We weren’t allowed to go outside in some of the most developmental years of our life, 

Yet we are lazy. 

We didn’t choose this world, 

Yet we must hold it on our shoulders.  

In school, we must work hard. 

They assign so much homework, yet when we are relaxing, we are lazy. 

We are not lazy.

We are burnt out 

And stressed 

And scared.  

And we will get through these years,

But maybe we won’t change in your eyes. 

Maybe we will be frozen in time 

Or maybe we will grow up,

And you will realize that even back then, we were trying.  

Popcorn

VT

13 years old

bumblebea

VT

15 years old

The Voice

March 2025

  • Special Issue: Teenager Contest

    What does it mean to be a teenager in America in 2025? YWP writers and artists open a window onto their world in this special issue of The Voice. The honest and thoughtful reflections shared here, in ...

  • Confession

    When I think about tomorrow, I see the calculus test I have not studied for and the five overdue assignments with long-received fat zeroes. I see the boy I think I love still leaving my messages on de...

  • Poetry

    By A.R

    Silent Thoughts

    To be chosen. That's all I wish for — to be someone's first choice. I watch from afar, lost in a sea of the bittersweet feeling As others are always chosen first, but never me, And I wonder why I can...

  • Generation Undecided

    Maybe we're the ones who grew up on our iPads then our phones, the ones who teach our teachers how to use their screens, the ones who know each other's lives through filters and think we know each ot...

  • Teenage Delirium (The Dictionary)

    B – Blades (noun pl.)/blād/[sometimes] speech is sharper than metal | [sometimes] it’s easier, cleaner, to cut with mutters and murmurs | they say: “if only” words could kill. Bones (noun pl.)/bōn/bi...

  • A Letter to the Grownups

    It's not all the grownups, But it's too many. Nothing is how it should be. The world is heating. The government collapsing. Yet we, We are only overreacting. Nothing is the same as it was. We aren't...

  • Before

    I miss the days When we would run through the fields And swim in the pond all day Smiling and using kayaks I miss the nights When we would read books and laugh about the smallest things I want to go ...

  • Girlhood (A List)

    Girlhood is texting your crush because it's late at night and you don't know any better. Girlhood is staring way too hard at the prettiest girl in class. Girlhood is planning revenge on boys who broke...

  • Alone

    [Alone in] Laughter, lamenting the lost light,you don’t want to be the forgotten, the lost cause, the missed flight. Reason runs thin when your sadness is bountiful,ink runs red as you write,over and...

  • Too Much, Too Soon

    They call us the lost generation, but how can we be lost when we see everything? We inherited the ruins, the sins of the past like notifications, the echoes of greed carved into policy, while they ask...

  • Adolescence

    Being a kid is like a dream. You’re riding bikes and going on hikes in the park. Nothing is holding you down ‘cept when the day frowns with rainy skies and you can’t stay out after dark. And then bei...

  • Parenting Lessons

    always carry your keys between your middle and ring finger never have your wallet visible don't listen to music in public everyone's a stranger you're our child; don't scare us. study until you can't ...

  • After All of This

    It's only February and look at this world. I want to know if we'll get through all of this. And on the other side, will I still be standing, or will I keep falling like I am now, and I'll fail my ...