What Teenagers Want You to Know | Roy Petitfils | TEDxVermilionStreet

Our biggest fear isn't being rejected, it's being invisible. Roy Petitfils discusses the invisibility epidemic faced by teenagers and what we can do to help.

Roy Petitfils, LPC, has worked with teens for over 20 years as a minister, teacher, administrator, school counselor and now as a therapist in private practice. He’s published four books, including, “What Teens Want You To Know (But Don’t Tell You).” His blue collar roots, natural humor, contagious enthusiasm and diverse background have made him an internationally sought after presenter for both teen and adult audiences. Roy lives with his wife of 14 years, Mindi, and their two sons Max and Ben in Youngsville, Louisiana.

[Jmcmick]

I swear adults always say teenagers are antisocial but when i take my dog on a walk and greet people on the trail adults answer the least

[that_one_av]

This guy sounds like he’s at the verge of crying yet he can’t stop making jokes. It made my brain oof

[lukoartist]

What teenagers want:
To be heard
To not be patronised
To have our ideas considered and not dismissed

[Jakenine]

And those invisible teenagers grow up to be invisible adults. It doesn't just stop at the teenage years. It can go into adulthood too.

[rottencopper]

My parents would always tease me about being in my room all the time and would call me a hermit or a shudden but that always made it harder to actually get out of my room

[SharkGuru]

This is the first and only time I have ever seen "all teens want is attention" in a positive manner and honestly it's really touching

[trippymemez]

As a teenager the only thing I want people to know is please knock on my door before you enter my room.

[winkwonk]

when his voice cracked when he said "my wife" i teared up

[mochiattoart]

My parents: "why r u always in your room?"
Me: * gets out*
Then: Oh wow, you _finally_ came out
Don't you know how discouraging that can be? When you try to do something but get shunned for not having done it sooner?

[kanooklapook]

Teenagers want you to know that their problems, like the ones of children, adults, and the elderly alike, are deeper than a 5 sentence paragraph, a 3 page multiple choice test, or anything you can write on a college application

[anti_MATT_er]

When asked if bullying was a problem in my school, I would always say no, we mostly ignore each other. We all have our circles and the ones who don't have a circle are just left to wander.

[ThomasSmith-zq]

Just finished reading ‘Raising Warriors: Preparing Your Children For a Godly Life’ and it really opened my eyes to some new ways of guiding my kids in their faith. Highly recommend it if you’re looking to strenghten your family’s spiritual life

[wellplague]

Adults always say we need to “learn how to make our own choices” or “be more responsible” but when it’s a decision that actually effects our life the most we suddenly are not allowed to have any input.

[elimidd]

Teenagers are expected to act like adults but are still treated like children. Even being 18 and living with my parents I didnt magically get the attention society deems worthy of Adults Only. I had a talk with my mom a few months ago about saying thank you to Me for simply doing the dishes or setting the table and she got upset with me, making me feel like I wasnt worthy of the simple act of being thanked. Later once I'd calmed down and she was driving me to a meet up with friends I said to her "you expect me to say 'thank you' after this car ride right? Cause that's the decent thing to do" and she said yes and I said "all I was saying is that I wish you'd extend the same courtesy to me" and she apologized, saying sometimes she guessed she forgot her pleases and thank you's.

I wish I could have more moments like that with my parents, where they would actually listen to what I'm trying to say rather than immediately jumping on the grumpy sullen teenager train, as he said: we are experience rich and vocabulary poor and we need people, Especially adults to reach out to us cause sometimes we dont know how, or its misconstrued as something that's just a "teenager problem"

[Hopethebest]

Me: Trying to make a valid point.
Adults: This is not a kid's conversation.
Me: Keeping my mouth shut
Adults: Why are you disrespecting?

[ellac]

I was in class and I think my teacher was in a bad mood. This girl walked up to her to ask her a question and the teacher yelled at her. The girl didn't show any disrespect so I instantly knew it was wrong of her to yell at this girl. I told my teacher that "all she did was ask a question so you don't need to yell". She gave me a detention, but why was what I did considered wrong? The fact is it was not wrong at all. I only received this because I'm a child and a child can NOT know anything. They always say stand up when somebody is being mistreated or somebody is being rude, but if it's the teacher I guess it doesn't apply. I didn't try to go against it or tell any other teachers because I didn't want to make it worse besides who would believe a child.

[otterwoods]

I think it hurts more to get fake attention like when it feels like your parents are forcing themselves to be around you and anything you say or do is forgotten by everyone they're there but not really there

[snifferproductions]

Me: *makes a valid point in an argument*

Parents: H O W D A R E
Y O U D I S R E S P E C T M E

[davepetasprite]

That must have been really awkward for the butcher

[BetteDavis]

"i dont know how to not avoid them but i dont want them to avoid me"

this made me cry. Im a 17 year old girl too and ive never known how exactly to express it but i feel this exact way about adults. i wish i could talk to this guy he sounds incredible.