POWER TO THE PEOPLE! Hold that thought. Power to the people OVER 18. The magical number, 18, transforms problematic teeangers into responsible adults. "Ding-ding," thank you for playing, but you're wrong.

Teenagers have been the butt of society's stereotypes and discrimination for all too long. Unjustly accused of a life of drugs, alcohol, violence, apathy, and general irresponsibility, teens are tired of being stereotyped in this manner.

In actuality, many teens mirror adults. In both the adult and teenage populations, there are irresponsible, violent, drug-addicted, and apathetic citizens; but there is also the other end of the spectrum. Society tends to focus on the negative rather than the positive. Because of a "few bad seeds," the majority of teens have been given a bad name.

A false accusation that is continually placed upon teens is shoplifting. When just one teenager is caught attempting to shoplift, immediately every teen who enters that store will never be treated the same. While there are teenagers who shoplift, there are also adults who do the same.

Another stereotype adults place on teenagers is their active role with drugs. While drugs may be prevalent in teenage society, there are more drug-related deaths in the adult population. A study by the U.S. Drug Abuse Warning Network found that 95% of the drug-related deaths in 1994 were adults over the age of 26.

Teenagers are also seen as one of the main sources for the increasing crime rate, and therefore curfews have been imposed across the country. The teen curfew in Chehalis limits our basic freedoms of movement and association. This is wrong.

Laws and attitudes that discriminate on the basis of age have no place in a free society.