I'm just wondering what new opportunities I now have in life and on this site now that I'm 13. I'm sorry if this has been put in the wrong place but I'm just extremely curious as to what everyone says

EDIT : I know about the girls and guys forum. I've known about it since I started posting on the board

You really can't do much more than you could before. But you do have access to the Guys and Girls forum... But that is about it.

Well, now that you are 13, you will be going into highschool soon, or are already there. You will be exposed to sex, drugs and alcohol. It is up to you to find out in which order you will do these things. Remember, there is life after high school. Good luck, and enjoy (or try to).

bobq : I'm already there since I'm in England. and thanks for the good answer.

You have the same things that you had when you were 12 essentially.
The only thing new is the guys and girls forum.

13 is a tough age because everyone is trying to figure out who they are and how they fit in with their friends and other people.  You're going to get the opportunity to start socializing with a lot of people you didn't know before and you're going to have a lot of decisions that will now start having serious effects on your life.

I was a 13 year old male years ago, before the prevalence of Facebook so I'm lucky because my stupidity didn't make it on the internet.  This is a question about opportunity so I'm going to present some opportunities that are coming up.  Remember, life is mainly a series of decisions.  Good ones put you in a position to enjoy yourself and have a great life.  Bad ones limit the number of choices you have down the road.  Try to make good decisions for you and your family.  That's all we can ask.  

Saying that:

1.  You're going to the have the opportunity to experiment with alcohol and tobacco.  It's your choice but trying those drugs and being around people who enjoy them isn't always smart.  Make a good decision when it comes to it.  Bad calls now may seem small but they add up quickly and limit your options down the road.

2.  You're going to have the opportunity to fall in love.  Do it.  Enjoy the emotions and physical, mental, and social reactions of having a strong relationship with another person.  You only find out about yourself when you really commit to another person.  Sure, you're young but this will pop up sooner than later.  I notice people who wait to find a perfect person either get too old to do so or are so uncomfortable because they don't have experience, they start rushing into things later in life.  Trying relationships and discovering yourself, even though you will have your heart broken a few times, is completely worth it.

3.  You're going to have the opportunity to do something great and something terrible.  Decide for yourself which is which and make the right choice.

4.  Lastly, you're going to get the opportunity to discover who you really are.  You at 13 is nowhere near you at 16 or you at 20.  Your experiences are going to guide your life and develop you into the man you hopefully become.  Start thinking now about what is important to you and your goals and guidelines.  Select principles that fit your lifestyle and stand by them no matter what.  You get the unique opportunity to decide who and what you'll be when you're older.  You can positively affect an entire generation if you do well or you could hurt people you love.  It's all up to you.  No one can control you except you.

Make the right calls.  Things are going to be wonderful.  Anyone who tells you Life isn't grand is still paying for their mistakes.  You won't be mistake free but you can learn, develop, and improve yourself.

Go do it. 

98Gamingstar : Somehow people are forgetting the debate/logic/news forum.

warmaker : Thank you, your comment was the kind I was looking for, it really helps

being teenager is making a adolecent
becareful don't get boyfriend girls
and an acne too

Image upload: 140x105 totaling 157 KB's.

awesomeguy279 :

People forget that forum because they are wastelands of pointless argument. I mean, I've been here for four years now, and often times forget it is here.

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As far as being 13, while thinking back, it was a great feeling. "Oh boy, I'm 13! Now I can do all kinds of fun teenager things!"

The reality of the matter is being 13 isn't nearly as fun as it sounds. There's very little you do at 13 that you weren't already doing at age 12. I like to think I've had a pretty normal life (for a person who visits a forum), but ages 11-15 were all pretty dull and samey, honestly.

Life doesn't open up at 13, I feel life really starts to open up at 16/18/21, depending on where you live and what the laws in your state/country are.

Here is some advice for you. Dont ever start smoking anything, seriously.

A lot of people I went to high school with smoked cigarettes and weed a lot. You cant simply quit these things. They are habits that will lead you to making poor decisions in many areas in your life. They will impact you in far greater ways that you will realize.

For example, if you start to smoke cigarettes, you will get agitated and impatient when you havent had a smoke in a couple hours, which will distract you from the tasks that are more important. You will get the "I cant wait until class is over so I can go for a smoke" mentality, as smoking is quite addictive.

If you were to smoke weed, you will notice a significant change in your mood and behavior, causing you to become more rude and paranoid and uneasy. Both of these things will set you back in in your life, and are also expensive habits to maintain.

I know I regret ever smoking...


It is quite easy to say I will never smoke, but that is before you are faced with a situation where youre the only one not smoking and everyone is pressuring you and calling you out if you dont smoke. Say to them, "Im not gunna smoke. Youre wasting your time."

Good luck.

legacyme3 : Ok if that's your opinion it's fine

bobq : I was never going to start smoking in the first place, my mum smokes and it worries me, I don't want to be like her.

At 13- well, you get a lot of the same things you got to do when you were a 12 year old. Honestly, the world doesn't just start to erupt in new experiences just because you had a birthday- you learn new things as you go on. It's not brought on by a sudden change- well, at least usually- it's more of a monotonous wait until you realize that over a couple of years you've changed a lot.

Lackadaisy : The world does erupt when you have your 16th and 18th birthdays mostly. 

Your parents will start to give you more freedom and they trust you more. Other than that you are one year closer to being a grown up. Thats pretty much it.

98Gamingstar : Well, it's the same as any other major shift in life, really. The transition from high school to college is just like from college to the job market, or a job to another. Your 16th birthday doesn't really give you anything except the ability to drive- so yeah.

Being 13 years old doesn't really do much now that I think about it. The only thing that you will probably experience is puberty. I think the world will hit you when you are 16 years old or 18 years old.

While the age of 13 doesn't really open up a whole lot of options it is an important age where you start to define who you are.  Warmaker had a very good comment on this.  As you reach maturity things will begin to change for you.  You will start to develop your own ideas about what makes a good person and what type of person you wish to be.  So as far as society and what it means about you turning 13, not much, as far as how you feel about yourself and what type of person you will develop into....  You are starting to hit a very fun part of life.  You probably don't have many responsibilities yet you find your freedoms growing.  How you use this freedom will be a factor in what type of person you become. On the lighter side, to me you are still a kid, just have fun being one.  

warmaker : my stupidity at the age of 13 was so heavy that it outweighed my 7 year old one, and got me banned from this very site.

I know being lectured probably isn't the best advice, but I believe that if you took the time to read the following paragraphs in an open mind, you may gain some sort of inspiration for your following days. I am nearly sixteen and wish I got three more years again as I am playing 'intellectual catch-up'. Don't listen to anything anyone else has to say if they're saying that you will be sitting around doing nothing - make something happen. This is essentially an extension on advice tornadocam: gave earlier.

If I had the chance to become eight again (Ha, some people on this site actually knows eight year old me), I would. There's so much I could do -- read a lot on science, Math and really accelerate my lagnauge development by posting on debate forums on the Internet.

You still got that opportunity at 13. Focusing on your studies and just having a love for true learning while you're still young will likely make you an intellectual beacon in your older age, ridden of ignorance that others around you will likely have (unless, all goes right, in which case you'd hopefully be surrounded by people you could learn from).

Go to the library and just read advanced books on any subject you're interested in, or not. If you hate Math, you should attempt to look up its history and gain some sort of appreciation for it - it'll help you in the long run.

Also, try as many things as possible. Give music a try, art, writing, photography. You may find a calling earlier than many of your peers, and that should make your 16 year old birthday relaxing rather than stressful as you have a clear goal for your life.

If you're considering employment, there are a couple of options. It's really up to you to decide if they're worth it and are also very dependent on your background. I am not sure if Vizzed itself still hires RGR staff members temporarily for certain jobs, but learning tight deadlines and how jobs really work. If you want real money (around hundreds for a month's worth of work) you may need some networking though. I don't recommend that you look for a job on your own if you don't have to. If you want to, you should absolutely find places people you know can recommend you to. Your parents or you friend's parents are good sources. Do they own a store or is your dad's workplace hiring anyone?

If you need anymore suggestions, I'll be happy to support you. I really want to see someone with potential energy convert that to something useful (not by falling, though).