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Description
Teenage life is hard enough as it is. Don't ask me why, because I couldn't give you the answer. I don't think anyone can. Some people would blame the parents, others the media, but I think it's something more than that. And I promise you something, if I knew the reason, I'd be the first to explain it.

In the last generation, and those before it, social circles used to be divided more or less by race. Now I'm not saying adults or anyone else are racist, but in my eyes everyone used to be labelled black, Caucasian or just under the afterthought heading of 'foreign.' Sure, with the developing age some people count Asians as their own group, but in my opinion, I can't see why. Sharks are sharks right? So therefore humans are humans. Yes maybe the skin, hair and eye colour are all different, but we all possess the same capabilities to live, breathe, feed, mate and even kill.

But things have changed in my time. One blessing for my generation is that we can look past the invisible dividers of skin colour, eye shape and even accent. But I think we may have made an unknown trade for this. Somewhere along the line, as it has always been, different social groups have become more varied and in some cases drastic. Now I'm not playing favourites here, and I won't even divulge the appropriate information to allow you to decide which 'sect' I belong to, that's going to be my little secret I guess, but what I will do is now try to give a description of the social circles. Before I begin however, let me just say that I am going to use examples of appearance to give you the full idea of what they look like, but not everyone person who belongs to these groups will act as negatively as some others. The divisions I will outline are based upon the behaviour associated to these groups by society.

Firstly, the most obvious I guess, are the chavs. In some places they are known as pikeys, townies, yobs (but the police can't call anyone that anymore, it may be seen as offensive) and more often than not, branded with names that would associate your mind to something that a dog wouldn't lick. Chavs are the current generation of lad culture, but in all honesty, they have always been around in some shape or form. Chavs are probably the largest group of individuals you see around, and this is just an example and not a biased view, they are also the ones most frequently showcased on the news. Knife crime, car theft, rape, drug dealing etc. – the list goes on, but the media seems to cry out in ecstasy every time a youth with a shaved head wearing a track suit commits one of these serious offences. Let me emphasise once again, I am not saying all chavs are bad, it's just (sadly) the general view of society on these individuals.

Next, punks. This group are the one's you should really be afraid of. Where a chav will frequently need a weapon of some sort to hurt a person, a punk could probably pound you into the dirt with just his bare fists. And again I'm not generalising here, it's just the view of the media influencing my youthful mind (sick right?). Any who, these guys and gals come in all shapes and forms, from muscular skinheads in leather, to reedy thin girls with too many piercings to count (believe me I once tried). For the sake of not repeating myself, again I am not being biased, I am just trying to give you all a quick insight as to what the 'world' (twisted as we all are) defines as a stereotypical punk.

Emo's! Emotional types is what you could call them – well that's what the label is supposedly there for. To me, emo's are a bit of a strange case. They are some kind of weird hybrid of all of the social circles, but to make it easier for a visual picture in everyone's head, let me try outline a 'typical' emo. Black hair, stars, stripes, fringers, tight clothes and dark makeup (that goes for the boys too). Right that seems fair on the looks department, but on psychology let me say: they aren't bad. In reality an emo is more often than not the kid that gets bullied. But in this day and age, there are so many victims that they have banded together to form their own little force, and good for them.

Right last one for the major groups: Goths. Long hair, trench coats, look as if they woke up on the wrong side of their crypts? I'm kidding, they aren't all like that, but then again that's the image that society wants to paint of them. Broody, quiet and more often than not ironically noticeable in a crowd, a Goth is basically an Emo with a blacker temper and a darker taste for clothes. Churches may brand them satan worshippers, but hey I don't see many of these guys getting pregnant before marriage or even thinking about murdering someone.

Introductions would be good I guess. I won't tell you my real name, and I also won't be using anyone else's true identity, but throughout this book you will know me as Alan Riter. Funny right? A.Riter? Well it made me laugh when I thought of it on the spot just now. And anyway, I swear I just saw you smile.

Nevermind, I guess I can save the jokes for later. I'm 18, I've done the whole comprehensive school and college lark, and as fun as it was, nothing can beat just being me. I try to think of myself as some strange outcast of social groups. I wear any and all clothes, although jeans and t-shirts are my favourites I guess, and I listen to everything from pop and dance, to heavy metal and punk. I try my best to think of everyone as equals, and that includes those that more often than not seek to pick on me. Yes I was the slightly chubby kid at school, and yes I guess I was at one point a nervous wreck – but things in my life have changed me to the person I am today.
And I love that person.

I'm a realist – or so I like to think. I have all of my limbs, I have a roof over my head, and I have loving friends and family. I count my blessings everyday, and hopefully my positivity will rub off on some people.

Anyway, what follows is something that I will forever remember. In a macabre fashion the events are my own personal 'bar mitzvah'. What happened was the thing that made me grow up – and you know what, I really hope nothing like it ever occurs to you.

My story isn't cool and it isn't funny. I guess it will be entertaining in a sick fashion (like when you watch a horror movie and you just can't quite avert your eyes enough to block the sight of a girl being cut in half by some maniac). Just remember the world today is what we all make it, and what I did only made things worse. Do me a favour – try to repair the damage I caused?

Description
Teenage life is hard enough as it is. Don't ask me why, because I couldn't give you the answer. I don't think anyone can. Some people would blame the parents, others the media, but I think it's something more than that. And I promise you something, if I knew the reason, I'd be the first to explain it.

In the last generation, and those before it, social circles used to be divided more or less by race. Now I'm not saying adults or anyone else are racist, but in my eyes everyone used to be labelled black, Caucasian or just under the afterthought heading of 'foreign.' Sure, with the developing age some people count Asians as their own group, but in my opinion, I can't see why. Sharks are sharks right? So therefore humans are humans. Yes maybe the skin, hair and eye colour are all different, but we all possess the same capabilities to live, breathe, feed, mate and even kill.

But things have changed in my time. One blessing for my generation is that we can look past the invisible dividers of skin colour, eye shape and even accent. But I think we may have made an unknown trade for this. Somewhere along the line, as it has always been, different social groups have become more varied and in some cases drastic. Now I'm not playing favourites here, and I won't even divulge the appropriate information to allow you to decide which 'sect' I belong to, that's going to be my little secret I guess, but what I will do is now try to give a description of the social circles. Before I begin however, let me just say that I am going to use examples of appearance to give you the full idea of what they look like, but not everyone person who belongs to these groups will act as negatively as some others. The divisions I will outline are based upon the behaviour associated to these groups by society.

Firstly, the most obvious I guess, are the chavs. In some places they are known as pikeys, townies, yobs (but the police can't call anyone that anymore, it may be seen as offensive) and more often than not, branded with names that would associate your mind to something that a dog wouldn't lick. Chavs are the current generation of lad culture, but in all honesty, they have always been around in some shape or form. Chavs are probably the largest group of individuals you see around, and this is just an example and not a biased view, they are also the ones most frequently showcased on the news. Knife crime, car theft, rape, drug dealing etc. – the list goes on, but the media seems to cry out in ecstasy every time a youth with a shaved head wearing a track suit commits one of these serious offences. Let me emphasise once again, I am not saying all chavs are bad, it's just (sadly) the general view of society on these individuals.

Next, punks. This group are the one's you should really be afraid of. Where a chav will frequently need a weapon of some sort to hurt a person, a punk could probably pound you into the dirt with just his bare fists. And again I'm not generalising here, it's just the view of the media influencing my youthful mind (sick right?). Any who, these guys and gals come in all shapes and forms, from muscular skinheads in leather, to reedy thin girls with too many piercings to count (believe me I once tried). For the sake of not repeating myself, again I am not being biased, I am just trying to give you all a quick insight as to what the 'world' (twisted as we all are) defines as a stereotypical punk.

Emo's! Emotional types is what you could call them – well that's what the label is supposedly there for. To me, emo's are a bit of a strange case. They are some kind of weird hybrid of all of the social circles, but to make it easier for a visual picture in everyone's head, let me try outline a 'typical' emo. Black hair, stars, stripes, fringers, tight clothes and dark makeup (that goes for the boys too). Right that seems fair on the looks department, but on psychology let me say: they aren't bad. In reality an emo is more often than not the kid that gets bullied. But in this day and age, there are so many victims that they have banded together to form their own little force, and good for them.

Right last one for the major groups: Goths. Long hair, trench coats, look as if they woke up on the wrong side of their crypts? I'm kidding, they aren't all like that, but then again that's the image that society wants to paint of them. Broody, quiet and more often than not ironically noticeable in a crowd, a Goth is basically an Emo with a blacker temper and a darker taste for clothes. Churches may brand them satan worshippers, but hey I don't see many of these guys getting pregnant before marriage or even thinking about murdering someone.

Introductions would be good I guess. I won't tell you my real name, and I also won't be using anyone else's true identity, but throughout this book you will know me as Alan Riter. Funny right? A.Riter? Well it made me laugh when I thought of it on the spot just now. And anyway, I swear I just saw you smile.

Nevermind, I guess I can save the jokes for later. I'm 18, I've done the whole comprehensive school and college lark, and as fun as it was, nothing can beat just being me. I try to think of myself as some strange outcast of social groups. I wear any and all clothes, although jeans and t-shirts are my favourites I guess, and I listen to everything from pop and dance, to heavy metal and punk. I try my best to think of everyone as equals, and that includes those that more often than not seek to pick on me. Yes I was the slightly chubby kid at school, and yes I guess I was at one point a nervous wreck – but things in my life have changed me to the person I am today.
And I love that person.

I'm a realist – or so I like to think. I have all of my limbs, I have a roof over my head, and I have loving friends and family. I count my blessings everyday, and hopefully my positivity will rub off on some people.

Anyway, what follows is something that I will forever remember. In a macabre fashion the events are my own personal 'bar mitzvah'. What happened was the thing that made me grow up – and you know what, I really hope nothing like it ever occurs to you.

My story isn't cool and it isn't funny. I guess it will be entertaining in a sick fashion (like when you watch a horror movie and you just can't quite avert your eyes enough to block the sight of a girl being cut in half by some maniac). Just remember the world today is what we all make it, and what I did only made things worse. Do me a favour – try to repair the damage I caused?