teenagers

Eli, a 16-year-old who uses any pronouns, stands near the water on Friday, May 17, 2024, at Stephens Lake Park in Columbia. Eli said heteronormativity frustrates them because people assume they are straight. “My family defines it as a ‘pass the peas’ household to where if you say you’re queer over dinner they’re just like, ‘OK, cool. Pass the peas,’ is their analogy where it doesn’t impact anyone’s daily lives, so they don’t care,” Eli said. “I don’t want to label myself because I don’t want to inadvertently pressure my own self to not want to explore. And, I also don’t want any external pressures telling me what I should be attracted to. I’m kind of just figuring it out and honestly don’t care to find a label. I’m just going to do what I want.”

KBIA News

16-year-old Eli: “You may not have a label, but that doesn't invalidate your experiences.”

Bailey Stover

Eli is a 16-year-old teenage member of the LGBTQ+ community who uses any pronouns. They spoke about not needing to confine their queerness to a specific label, and the importance of allowing young people to fluidly explore their identity.

Mike, who is a transgender 15-year-old highschool student, sits in on his bed on Monday, May 20, 2024, at his home in Columbia. He said he enjoys going on runs, baking and playing Dungeons and Dragons. “A bit of a sign that I might have been trans early on is that every single time I played a game like this, where you got to make your own character, it was always a guy. I think I only, like, once or twice ever played a girl. But, other than that, it was always guys that I played,” Mike said. “Like, my entire life I've always felt more comfortable with masculine clothing. I was always a tomboy growing up. I always had guy friends. I never liked any sort of dress or skirt. I always just thought it was a tomboy. But then I realized, ‘Oh, I like being a boy more than I like being a girl.’ … I have a binder—actually, I have two binders—but whenever I wear them, I feel just more comfortable in who I am. Even when I'm alone, if I wear it, I just feel this kind of warmness in my chest like, ‘This is who I am. This is what feels right for me.’ And, it just feels great.”

KBIA News

15-year-old Mike: “I hope people just treat me as a normal person. Just somebody who's trans. Just a guy.”

Bailey Stover

Mike is a 15-year-old transgender high schooler. He spoke about his relationship with his mom and about some of his hopes for the future.

"The sexts are currency," explains Hanna Rosin. Teenage girls told Rosin boys collect the photos like "baseball cards or Pokemon cards."

Education

'Why Kids Sext' Describes Nude Photos As 'Social Currency' Among Teens

Teenage girls explained to writer Hanna Rosin that boys collect sexts like baseball cards or Pokemon cards. "There's so much free porn out there that these pictures serve a different role," she says.

It is getting harder for pools, like this one in Lawrence, Kan., to recruit teens into lifeguarding.

Arts and Culture

Why Fewer Teens Are Spending Their Summer Lifeguarding

Elle Moxley

Temperatures are rising, but a shortage of lifeguards in some communities is keeping pools closed. Once a stereotypical way to make some summer cash,...