Current Issue -

To the Adults in My Life

By Anya Volkmann (13 years old) | Spring 2025 Inspire(d)

Future Focused: Listening to the Next Generation. A new Inspire(d) column written by pre-teens and teens, to help give the next generation a chance to voice their opinions.

What do you wish adults would understand about you?

Anya Volkmann to Adults:

I want adults to understand that dad jokes aren’t as funny as they think
Using our Gen Z language isn’t cool
That when they say words like rizz and pookie
They aren’t being funny

I wish adults understood that when we stay in our rooms all day
It’s not because we are staying away from them
Not because we are mad
I mean sometimes it is
But sometimes we just need quiet

Illustration by Roxie Nichols

I wish adults understood that school is crazy
It’s stressful
Sometimes we want to just go home and take a nap
But we have after-school activities

I wish adults understood that for some of us, sports are a world
And for some, they aren’t even something we do
But we get teased for how we play
How we do 
It’s not fair 

But in the end, life isn’t fair.
And there are so many things I wish adults knew 
But there are so many things adults actually do know, too
In fact, the adults in my life have taught me most of what I know today
Like the golden rule
How I should act
Treat others
Have a positive attitude
Be myself
And so much more
So in the end, 
Thank you adults for everything you taught me

Anya Volkmann


Anya Volkmann is a seventh grader at Decorah Middle School. She loves riding horses, playing basketball, playing soccer, and hanging out with her friends. She loves to stay busy with her little free time.

          Editor’s Note: Wanting to give the next generation an opportunity to share their voices, we have expanded the Future Focused section of Inspire(d) to include new writers! Partnering with Dana Hogan, the Extended Learning Program teacher at Decorah Middle School, we offered up a variety of prompts like, “What are your predictions for the future?” “What do you wish adults understood about you?” and also shared the Spring 2025 issue’s theme of tackling challenges and facing fears. Students submitted work, did edits, and three were chosen for this print issue of Inspire(d). Check them all out here! Here’s to Listening to the Next Generation!

    – Inspire(d) Editor-in-Chief Aryn Henning Nichols

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