22.

Kyle asks for response today on his "This I Believe" essay.  It's about his belief that most adults do not remember how difficult it is to be a teenager.

One of his teachers called his dad because Kyle put his head down on his desk in class.  At home, Kyle's dad said, "It's not that hard to keep your head up.  It's not that hard."

Kyle's next paragraph heads into a tirade about that sentence, listing all the things about being a teenager that make it difficult, especially when everyone around him is telling him that it's easy.

It's a rant-filled, angst-driven, completely teenage piece.  

And it is 100% his reality. 

I respond to him as a writer, pointing out sentences where his ranting detracts from the solid points he is making.  He listens.