When You Are Oppressed, Or Ten Weighty Reasons for Teenagers and Their Parents

[the phantom]

My experience may have been even worse, as I was only slightly older than my students

It is my experience that kids do NOT like authority figures that are the same age, or god forbid, younger, than them

I've been doing tutoring as a job or as volunteer work for six years now and I have discovered that (around these parts anyway) the age of the kid matters more than my age.

For these past six years it's been the same- kids 7 and under do what I tell them, kids 8-10 need to be told more than once, kids 11-13 are nearly impossible to deal with, kids 14-15 are similar to 8-10 years olds, and kids 16 and older do what I tell them (just like kids 7 and under).

I know it seems weird but that's how it has always been for me. 11-13 year olds are always the worst but once they get old enough they don't mind if you're close to their age as long as you aren't a jerk or something. My friends that are around my age do what I tell them much quicker than the junior high students I tutor.