There are around seven million young people in the UK today. We come from different places, with different accents, backgrounds and experiences, yet we are treated as a homogenous group.
We are herded like cattle and lambs into tick box categories, without anyone thinking what that does to our minds, opinions and our confidence.
We're told we're lazy and feckless, yet we're shown off as political trophies at opportune moments when we finally do something people think is worthy of their attention.
We're told we aren't achieving highly enough at school, so we push harder at achieving qualifications we won't even remember we have in ten years, only to have the bar raised higher; then we're lambasted when the pass rate falls. We're told we're stupid for studying 'useless' subjects, yet they continue to be offered while traditional subjects are cut again and again. The media make out that we don't treat teachers with all the respect they deserve, while slagging them off for having long periods of holiday - when you're being pushed and pulled in a million different directions you don't know what piece of coursework you're supposed to be doing next and why you're doing it while you're full to the brim with hormones, you'd be irritated too.
We're looked down upon for being overly sexual and being reckless with our bodies, but sex is used to sell everything from cars to coffee. Girls are told that they dont' respect themselves enough, but our bodies are constantly scrutinised - too fat, too hairy, too pale - and there are adverts for diets and plastic surgery all over prime time television. We're fat and lazy, but our green spaces have been sold off for car parks and McDonalds', while horror stories of paedophiles and kidnappings keep our kids locked to consoles and TVs that portray what it sued to be like to run around free until tea time.
We're told we can be anything, anyone we want, but then we're told we're stupid and useless. We aim for better things only for the system to abandon those who aren't white, academic and non-working class. We're told to celebrate diversity and then the government tries to send people home via a selection of offensive billboard adverts. We aspire to better things but the only way to get there is through unpaid internships - the most moden form of prostitution.
You seek our views and then ignore them as soon as you've had your photo opportunity with the pretty teenager, while trying to remove our right to political protest. You want immigrants to speak English, but cut ESOL privision. You want us to stand on our own two feet, but promote zero-hour contracts that leave us dependent on your state hand outs. You tell us not to become teenage parents - another statistic that leaves you looking bad - yet it's contemplated that we should teach abstinence in schools instead.
We're told to embrace free speech, yet you try to censor the internet and put racist bigots on the news. You tell us to embrace our culture, and then tell us we're all being small minded.
The problem isn't the individual, the young person looking for answers of how to live. The problem is the wealth of conflicted messages that are thrown at us. We're confused, frustrated and pissed off, but then you remember that one day, we'll be supporting you financially. Only then are we suddenly okay again.
