If you could bestill one serious piece of advice to a child, lets say under 12 so most people in here can answer, what would that piece of advice be?

Would it matter? They wouldn't listen anyway

Try to understand why people act in some ways.
(Don't judge them on first sight)

( Edit: this is to Aikanaro -> ) Precisely. Also, precisely the reason things are the way they are. But what can you do? Me, I'll just make sure the under 12-year-old will learn to respect/fear me real well if it comes to it. Wouldn't be the first time either. Fear isn't a good thing, but it's the only way any child will ever learn to respect and value. The fear of punishment.

So an advice? Pain.

A wise man once said (you know, I have to stop referring to myself as some wise man :rolleyes: ): Father is the discipline, mother is the sympathy, together they are the teacher, and their product is a human, completed.

Nowadays the roles are not that simple, as either may be either, and probably both are a little of each. But it's just to emphasize that both are needed ( :doh: really?), discipline, and love.

[ January 23, 2003, 14:19: Message edited by: Foradasthar ]

Sunscreen ;) of course...

1) Don't waste your opportunities (this assumes that the kid can RECOGNIZE an opportunity when it's presented).

2) Be true to yourself.

I think i'd have to say live roughly by the ten commandments. I'm not a hardly religous person but those are still a decent set of rules to live by.

Hmmm... Being only 16 myself, I can remeber pretty clearly what it was like not so long ago. My best piece of advice would be to listen to the opinions of others, even if you don't agree with them, and to calm. Down. Right. Now.

Don't smoke cause it's 'cool', because..well it's not

I'd tell someone under 12:
- Enjoy life right now because as you get older it gets harder and harder (I never could enjoy it much, I had to do my growing up very fast.)
- If you have a goal in life don't let the opinions of people stop you from trying to accomplish it (I'm refering to personal experience here.)
- Try to do the right thing, always!

Don't try to grow up too fast. When you become mature, you miss out on the stuff you could have been seeing and doing as a kid. And be carefree; let the grown-ups do the worrying for you.

Wow, I sound like Holden Caulfield. :eek:

Start thinking about which other countries you'd like to live in and start learning some other languages. You want to be able to get out of the UK as soon as possible.

PS sorry if the whole country is beyond repair by the time you are old enough to leave.

EDIT - just to quantify this, I'm talking about things like facing (by the time they are old enough) a £30k debt (current estimates £21k) when they start their adult life in they choose to try to better themselves with a university education, needing to have attended higher education to qualify as a cleaner, not being able to afford their own home until they are into their 40s (current estimates of first time buyers age 34), being even older before you can afford marriage or children, a health service that has collapsed, no pension, a retirement age of 75, minimal rail, fire and police cover, etc, etc.

On the bright side, global warming might improve our local climate, as long as you don't live near the coast or a river.

[ January 23, 2003, 17:59: Message edited by: Slappy ]

Follow your dreams. If you can make a living by living out your dreams, then great. If not, find a way to make them come true while doing something else to pay the bills.

Never eat yellow snow.

Always do what you can, trying to do what you can't will make things worse.

Cool is acting your age doing well in school and out, Cool is not behaving like a spoiled brat, bullying and doing stuff open to older people.

Things get better in the end, but often you have to get lower down to find that end.

Acknowledge rumours and stories about people, but wait until you meet them until you can make your own opinions.

Critisizing on something you could not or would not do is pointless, you can only offer advice and help if it is needed.

If friends are getting you down there is always family, if family are getting you down there is always a forum open.

Be young and have fun, just don't burn down any buildings.

Kids today wouldn't listen. More likely to stab you actually... ;)

I would tell the kid what my parents told me, "there is always time for a condom".

I was thinking about this, and if I could go back and give advice to myself at age 14, I wouldn't have listened to it.

So the only thing I really can say is if a future version of yourself shows up, look for a wierd kid and a bug eyed old scientist type. If you see them, take the sports almanac and lock it in a bank vault

too funny, man, too funny.

My one piece of advice: If there is something you are contemplating whether or not to do, that if you do, and a future you comes back in time, that because you did this thing he will want to inflict physical harm on you for your stupidity, that is a good sign not to do it.

Basically, think, idgit.

Amon-Ra, that has to be one of the longest and most incoherent single sentences I've seen on this board. Extra points for only squeezing four commas in there.

My advice?

Take down the big one first.

And

The five second rule is always right.

Another advice for them (or anyone):
Don't always try to have a cocky followup to what someone else has said!!

I have lived with two people who did this. One was a previous flatmate. His follow-ups were quite funny at times but still annoying. The other is a current flatmate who gives derisory come-backs that make you just want to head-butt him (and i would if i could reach - he's considerably taller than me).

For me, that is an easy way to keep friends.

Let me now add some of my advice-
1)Don't worry about this global warming thing. Despite what all the environmentalist wackos are saying, scientific evidence indicates the planet is actually getting colder over time, heading for another ice age. But in those cooling times, the earth has been shown to increase in temp at times
2) Don't EVER get a credit card. Worst mistake you can make. Pay cash for all your shopping, have a checking account with a VISA checkcard for bills and if you ever have to rent a car, hotel room, etc.
3) Wait till you get married to have sex. I'm serious. I did and it was one of the best things I have ever done. The best things come to those who wait.
4) Plan to start investing by the time you are 21.
5) If you live in a country were you can vote in an election, do it. There is nothing more I hate then someone complaining about how the country is run and when I ask them if they vote, they say no. Your one voice can and will make a difference.
6) Recycle. There is actually enough paper and wood in this world that if even half the population of the world recycled, we would never have to cut down another tree.
7) Stay in school. Go as far as possible, STAY IN SCHOOL!
8) Don't do drugs, smoke or drink excessively. And if you do drink, don't drink and drive.
9) Respect your parents. Dispite what you may believe, they know what they are talking about. They've been in your shoes before.
10) Learn to look at people for what they are on the inside. Don't judge someone because they are different then you.
11) Whatever you do, for God's sake, register at SP!
12) If you spill hot coffee in your lap in the drive through, don't sue. Its your own damn fault.
13) Learn to be able to laugh at life and take things in stride. Remember what the great Jimmy Buffet once said, "If we didn't laugh, we'd all go insane."

"He was born to love you, when he heard you sing..."

[ January 24, 2003, 12:22: Message edited by: Elios ]

Well, let's see... What would I say?

Read more and learn from what you learn.

I think that should suffice for now.

(THe loony lady of Loony land)

Play Baldur's Gate, now!

[ January 24, 2003, 12:14: Message edited by: Aikanaro ]

Heh...since I am only 13 (soon 14 :p ) I'll just have to go with some quotes that I have read:
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
It's better to burn out, than to fade away.
Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.
It takes a big man to admit when he's wrong, and an even bigger one to keep his mouth shut when he's right.
Okay, enough with quotes for today!

*I will be back... Muahahahahahaw!*

Above all else, to thine own self be true!

Learn to hear your inner voice.
Learn to love yourself,
never fear loving another.

You have within yourself the power to create the world in which you live, never give away this power.

Learn to be grateful for this gift of life.

I could go on and on...

But the biggest message I hope to pass on successfully to my daughter is that she is loved.

My best advice is to not take things so damn seriously! Things work out one way or another, never sacrifice your life following one goal blindly but try out as much as possible. You never know what you really end up doing. Oh and never be afraid to change your stance on things, nothing is worse than people stubbornly and blindly stick to something even in the face of overwhelming evidence (and I am not really talking religion here). The changing stance goes for other things as well, you must do what feels right for you, not what feels right for parents/culture/society/whatever. As long as it isnt obviously stupid and dangerous stuff of course. So if you had planned to wait with sex until marriage but then you meet this great person that you love more than life and have a brilliant time with him/her but marriage not being an option at the moment, bugger that and follow your heart and jump in the sack. It is love that matters not empty words in front of some official.

Time flows past faster as you get older.

Live like you will die tomorow,
Study like you will live forever.

Lean from anyone you can. Respect your teacher.

Follow the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you would want to be treated.

I would have to say to the kid to always keep an open mind and to treat others with the respect they deserve.

Capstone: The greatest revelation of my life was when I realised just how wrong that claim was. If you treat others as you wish to be treated, you treat them in a friendly, kind, caring, helping and understanding manner. And that will lead people to use you, despise you, and mock you.

Respect. It is the most important thing when socializing with other people. Respect always contains a portion of admiration and fear. Admiration might come throught being kind and friendly, but to make them fear you, you need to show that you are not someone they'd like to act against them. Only when these both are in check, they will treat you with respect, understand and accept your opinions, and trust your advice.

It's different with friends, but with common people this is the only way.

1. Be skeptic
2. Think for yourself (as far as an 12yo can think)

The best piece of advice you can give kiddies these days is simple:

Watch out for the VD

1. Always think for yourself and don't let the opinions and beliefs of others dictate your actions.
2. Understand that life is not fair or just and enjoy things in the way they are.

Find your voice.
When you do something, do it with a soul.

I would tell a kid under 12 that pretty soon they're going to realize, if they haven't already, that adults are not always right. HOWEVER, that does not make them always wrong. They should LISTEN to the voice of experience, even if it isn't what they want to hear. I would also mentione that if adults are so stupid, then they really have a poor future ahead of them because they are going to end up stupid too!