“Teen-agers Bill of Rights”
Our Rights with Friends:
Randy, Adam and Heath – Cumberland CFAC youth members

We all have rights and privileges that involve having friends. We can choose our friends based on likes and dislikes. Friendship is a personal thing. We don’t have to dislike someone because our friend does not like them or the person is not in our “group.”

We all have the right to ask our friends to be trustworthy. If we share something with a friend, we want that to be respected. If we ask that you not tell anyone, then respect that. Our friends have the right to expect the same thing from us.

We have the right to be honest with our friends and to have them be honest with us.

We have the right to tell a friend if they say or do something that hurts or concerns us. We can talk to them about this.

We have the right to agree to disagree. We don’t have to be mean to each other because we disagree.

We have the right to have our decisions respected. Some friends may not understand the choices we make, but they are our choices. Respect that and accept us for who we are.

We have the right to be held responsible for our decisions. This means getting praised for good decisions and held accountable for poor decisions.

Our Rights with Parents and Other Adults

We have the right to have our feelings respected by adults and not be put down. Our feelings are strong and sometimes confusing. It helps if you take our feelings seriously and listen to us instead of disregard or belittle us. We feel we have the right to make decisions (some…not all). If we make mistakes, we will learn from them.

Our Rights with Everyone

We have the right to be loved unconditionally and our goal is to love you the same. We have the right to speak our minds, love ourselves, feel our feelings and strive for our dreams. Please support us by believing in us rather than fearing for us. We will sometimes fail along the way but that is to be expected. Remember what it was like for you to be a teen-ager and what helped you along the way.

Remember, we will not always be teen-agers. We will grow up and be an adult one day. We have a right and need to be guided and supported along the way.