Teenage Poooooooowwwwwweeeeeeeeeerrrr!!!

Just a few decades ago, children and teens were treated like this:

Father:  Hey you, get me the papers! And be quick, you pig!

Mother: Why your exam marks so terrible?! Si bei gao lat!

Child: But...

Mother: Still want fight back arr??!!You must obey your parents!!

Basically, in Asia, children were expected to follow everything their parents said, do whatever they were told, and never never fight back. This is part of the authoritarian Asian culture, but I honestly believe that it was invented by parents who wanted full control over their children.

This wasn't just limited to the home however.

Child: (admiring a car)

Car dealer: Hey get out! Nobody said you can come in!(while politely inviting a couple of adults)

Salesman: (Explaining a product to child's mother)

Child: Excuse me....

Salesman and Mother: Quiet la! Always talk talk talk, you got money buy ar?

During that time, there wasn't anything offered for the youngsters. Your fathers and mothers played with tops, sticks and little hooks on strings that they used to catch the ichthyoid... more commonly known as: 

fish.

So why has this changed?

Yes, some things still remain the same, but life of teenagers are so much better now. We get more respect from parents, society realizes our potential, and there are so many things aimed specifically at us:

Reason: MONEY. 

I'm serious. You see, back in those days, our fathers/mothers were ignored by the private sector is because they simply had very little or no money(can I go on bolding it?). If a certain group didn't have money, would companies be making products for them? Exactly.

So when children got more and more pocket money, and parents were more willing to buy things for them, companies started sitting up. Particularly IT companies, like Apple, Microsoft and the like, because they offered the most things that children/teens wanted.

Once we gained importance in the private sector, companies not only made products for children/teens, they started activities for them. Talent contests, youth concerts, dance competitions, you name it.

Because of these events, society started to realize what children and teenagers could do. More and more importance in this age group. Governments and NGOs alike realized our potential, and then came the Children Rights, Under-18 protection, emphasis on education etc. 

This then spread to our homes for parents couldn't just treat their children with disrespect and get away with it. And then with it came along more pocket money. And the cycle continues.

So to my friends, if you want us to gain more importance in this world, whatever you do, pester your parents for money.

NOW.