coffee shops very rarely at clubs most parties are organised at a friends place theres music aerated drinks beer and bonfire i have been to parties where seniors would smoke weed but i dont think its cool why would you do that to your body besides i hate visiting the doctor alcohol isnt wrong but why drink alone if and when i get high i want to be in the company of people i trust mom gets worried when i am out late and i understand why but its good that it doesnt interfere with my freedom our parents need to trust us more whether its to do with who we are out with or what we will do with our future i am just 17 theres timepallon shroff age 14 spending free time on my ps3 doesnt make me antisocial my parents think im antisocial because i spend free time on the play station mobile or computer but im not always playing games the internet is where we hang out they want me to play outdoors and think theres no value in what i do but thats not true i play football for campion my school and the time i have spent playing fifa on my ps3 has enriched my real game tactics and skill it has also helped me practice for my practical exams in pe bio one of my subjects they argue about using facebook snapchat and instagram incessantly but social media is the penultimate tool to showcase your talents through virtual and real gaming they worry a lot about online privacy on social networking sites but most teens are conscious of what they post just as much as they are about how they behave in public if mum and dad didnt fear my love for technology and instead spent a little time learning about the online world which unfortunately they missed out on in childhood that would be nicerae mulla age 15 organising an interschool event isnt a waste of time three years ago my school st marys launched immaculata an interschool event that gets students to compete in sports performing arts and literary skill its while being on the organising committee this year that i realised that parents rarely encourage extracurriculars they think its a waste of time but putting it together was like a course in management since we were the host school we didnt participate in competitions but planned the twoday event from start to finish seventeen schools participated this year with 2000 students dropping in thats huge it took eight months of planning conceiving events finding sponsors convincing the famous to judge and do it all within a budget it taught me confidence decision making and team building we do understand the importance of high grades and we know parents worry about us figuring out what well do with our lives but in the end they want us to live a balanced life be responsible adults who take mature decisions