Teenagers live in a world when just saying no isn't an acceptable answer. It's like we lost the ability to say no and have it respected. If we want to say no, we have to have an elaborate labyrinth of reasons behind it, and even then, the “no” is only justified if the other person deems the reasons acceptable enough to warrant saying no. Saying "no" is okay if a parent says so, but not if you say it yourself. Our smaller no’s have to backed up by a bigger one from an adult. For us teenagers, just saying no isn’t enough anymore.
There are kids who are regularly miserable because their friends forced them to go out with them, to do something they aren’t comfortable with, because the reasons behind their no wasn't deemed important enough. There are kids forced to do speech after speech in classes despite anxiety so bad they feel like the world is ending, because they aren’t allowed to say no to their teachers. Unless, of course, their parents call to explain to a teacher that yes, the anxiety does exist, and yes, their child should be allowed to avoid things that give them a panic attack. Their parents offer a bigger no that the teacher would respect, because the smaller no of a teenager is untrustworthy because clearly, they are just trying to get out of doing work.
There are kids out there who have all honors and AP classes, a club every day, and then even more activities outside of school like an instrument, a language class, or a sport. Kids who are stretched so thin they barely get any time to themselves, juggling hours of homework with hours of activity, because no matter many times they protest, saying that they “don't want to go to piano anymore” or “they don’t like ballet” or just say “no, I’m not going”, they are always ignored. Because parents have the final say on how we spend all of our time. Quitting isn’t allowed unless there a reason behind it they deem justifiable. Oh, so you want to quit because you’re uninterested in the piano and think you could spend your time better doing something else? Too bad, your parents have already decided it is something you will be taking for the rest of your teenage life and won’t allow quitting unless your teacher kicks you out themselves.
In today’s society, a teenager saying no is seen as them being lazy, as just “those darn millennials who don’t do anything for themselves, spending all day in front of a screen instead of face to face.” But little do they know we spend all day in front of a screen because we are working on the hours of homework assigned to us, because saying no to all honors and AP classes was not allowed, since the parents have the final say in our schedule. We spend all day avoiding people because if we see them, we’ll be forced into a situation we don’t want to be in because the reason for our no wasn’t good enough.
Teenagers lose all motivation and interest in things we used to like because we aren't allowed to say no, to take breaks from the activity so we don't burn out and stop liking it. Being unable to say no just leaves copious amounts of people who constantly dread waking up, going to class, going to their clubs, or going out with their friends. It leaves teenagers miserable with everything they do. Maybe one day a teenager will be able to just say no, without a complex explanation of why, and have it respected.
