Because of the Fifth Amendment, no one in the U.S. may legally be forced to testify against himself, and because of the Fourth Amendment, no one’s records or belongings may legally be searched or seized without just cause. However, American police are trained to use methods of deception, intimidation and manipulation to circumvent these restrictions. In other words, cops routinely break the law—in letter and in spirit—in the name of enforcing the law. Several examples of this are widely known, if not widely understood.
1) “Do you know why I stopped you?”
Cops ask this, not because they want to have a friendly chat, but because they want you to incriminate yourself. They are hoping you will “voluntarily” confess to having broken the law, whether it was something they had already noticed or not. You may think you are apologizing, or explaining, or even making excuses, but from the cop’s perspective, you are confessing. He is not there to serve you; he is there fishing for an excuse to fine or arrest you. In asking you the familiar question, he is essentially asking you what crime you just committed. And he will do this without giving you any “Miranda” warning, in an effort to trick you into testifying against yourself.2) “Do you have something to hide?”
Police often talk as if you need a good reason for not answering whatever questions they ask, or for not consenting to a warrantless search of your person, your car, or even your home. The ridiculous implication is that if you haven’t committed a crime, you should be happy to be subjected to random interrogations and searches. This turns the concept of due process on its head, as the cop tries to put the burden on you to prove your innocence, while implying that your failure to “cooperate” with random harassment must be evidence of guilt.3) “Cooperating will make things easier on you.”
The logical converse of this statement implies that refusing to answer questions and refusing to consent to a search will make things more difficult for you. In other words, you will be punished if you exercise your rights. Of course, if they coerce you into giving them a reason to fine or arrest you, they will claim that you “voluntarily” answered questions and “consented” to a search, and will pretend there was no veiled threat of what they might do to you if you did not willingly “cooperate.”
(Such tactics are also used by prosecutors and judges via the procedure of “plea-bargaining,” whereby someone accused of a crime is essentially told that if he confesses guilt—thus relieving the government of having to present evidence or prove anything—then his suffering will be reduced. In fact, “plea bargaining” is illegal in many countries precisely because it basically constitutes coerced confessions.)4) “We’ll just get a warrant.”
Cops may try to persuade you to “consent” to a search by claiming that they could easily just go get a warrant if you don’t consent. This is just another ploy to intimidate people into surrendering their rights, with the implication again being that whoever inconveniences the police by requiring them to go through the process of getting a warrant will receive worse treatment than one who “cooperates.” But by definition, one who is threatened or intimidated into “consenting” has not truly consented to anything.5.) We have someone who will testify against you
Police “informants” are often individuals whose own legal troubles have put them in a position where they can be used by the police to circumvent and undermine the constitutional rights of others. For example, once the police have something to hold over one individual, they can then bully that individual into giving false, anonymous testimony which can be used to obtain search warrants to use against others. Even if the informant gets caught lying, the police can say they didn’t know, making this tactic cowardly and illegal, but also very effective at getting around constitutional restrictions.6) “We can hold you for 72 hours without charging you.”
Based only on claimed suspicion, even without enough evidence or other probable cause to charge you with a crime, the police can kidnap you—or threaten to kidnap you—and use that to persuade you to confess to some relatively minor offense. Using this tactic, which borders on being torture, police can obtain confessions they know to be false, from people whose only concern, then and there, is to be released.7) “I’m going to search you for my own safety.”
Using so-called “Terry frisks” (named after the Supreme Court case of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1), police can carry out certain limited searches, without any warrant or probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed, under the guise of checking for weapons. By simply asserting that someone might have a weapon, police can disregard and circumvent the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches.U.S. courts have gone back and forth in deciding how often, and in what circumstances, tactics like those mentioned above are acceptable. And of course, police continually go far beyond anything the courts have declared to be “legal” anyway. But aside from nitpicking legal technicalities, both coerced confessions and unreasonable searches are still unconstitutional, and therefore “illegal,” regardless of the rationale or excuses used to try to justify them. Yet, all too often, cops show that to them, the Fourth and Fifth Amendments—and any other restrictions on their power—are simply technical inconveniences for them to try to get around. In other words, they will break the law whenever they can get away with it if it serves their own agenda and power, and they will ironically insist that they need to do that in order to catch “law-breakers” (the kind who don’t wear badges).
Of course, if the above tactics fail, police can simply bully people into confessing—falsely or truthfully—and/or carry out unconstitutional searches, knowing that the likelihood of cops having to face any punishment for doing so is extremely low. Usually all that happens, even when a search was unquestionably and obviously illegal, or when a confession was clearly coerced, is that any evidence obtained from the illegal search or forced confession is excluded from being allowed at trial. Of course, if there is no trial—either because the person plea-bargains or because there was no evidence and no crime—the “exclusionary rule” creates no deterrent at all. The police can, and do, routinely break the law and violate individual rights, knowing that there will be no adverse repercussions for them having done so.
Likewise, the police can lie under oath, plant evidence, falsely charge people with “resisting arrest” or “assaulting an officer,” and commit other blatantly illegal acts, knowing full well that their fellow gang members—officers, prosecutors and judges—will almost never hold them accountable for their crimes. Even much of the general public still presumes innocence when it comes to cops accused of wrong-doing, while presuming guilt when the cops accuse someone else of wrong-doing. But this is gradually changing, as the amount of video evidence showing the true nature of the “Street Gang in Blue” becomes too much even for many police-apologists to ignore.
One of the biggest realizations with dealing with cops for me was the fact that they CAN lie, they are 100% legally entitled to lie, and they WILL whether you’re a victim of crime, accused of committing a crime or anything else
Everyone needs to reblog this, it could save a life.
Officer Friendly, Isn’t.
There is no such thing as a good cop.
Tag: resources
Can you recommend me some surreal brainfucks?
(With reference to this post here.)
Heh – sure:
- Dreaming Sarah – A puzzle platformer about a young woman who’s in a coma following an accident of unknown nature. Your task throughout the game is to expore Sarah’s mind and piece together exactly what happened. Fair warning: it gets kind of graphic in a couple of spots.
- Metrico+ – Do you like bar graphs? Because this game has bar graphs. It’s an abstract puzzler where you navigate terrain consisting of animated infographics; imagine living in an especially dry PowerPoint presentation and you’ll have the right idea. Despite appearances to the contrary, there actually is a story here, though a lot of players don’t get far enough to realise it, and that story is basically weird as hell.
- OneShot – This one’s recent enough and popular enough you’ve likely heard of it, but on the off chance that you haven’t, I’ve got to give it a plug. It’s about a young cat-person of indeterminate gender named Niko who’s been chosen as the Messiah, charged with restoring the Sun to a dying world. Note that I didn’t say “you play as”; it quickly transpires that the god Niko serves is you, the player, and as the Messiah they’re able to communicate with you.
- Ossuary – A puzzle game set in Purgatory. Your inventory consists of various mortal sins. I’d suggest giving it a go without assistance at first just for the atmosphere, but don’t hesitate to look up a guide if you’re well and truly stuck; some of the puzzles descend into some pretty severe moon-logic for their solutions.
- Rusty Lake: Roots – Less a unified game and more an anthology of variably challenging hidden object puzzles tied together by a nonlinear framing narrative. I think it’s about alchemy. Lots of gratuitous dismemberment; in particular, keep your distance if you have a thing about eye trauma.
hockey scoring 101
Three simple things we all know
1. Mass shootings are a daily occurrence. We only hear about the most “newsworthy” incidents. The Mass Shooting Tracker keeps a log, and it’s horrific to take in.
2. This level of gun violence is completely preventable. We absolutely already know that gun control saves lives, no matter what a politician has told you.
3. The government can’t seriously work on this problem because the National Rifle Association will not allow it.
But we should investigate Planned Parenthood some more.
I posted this on October 1st, 2015.
Writing Tip June 4th
A list of body language phrases.
I’ve included a very comprehensive list, organized by the type of body movement, hand and arm movements, facial expressions etc. In some cases, a phrase fits more than one heading, so it may appear twice. Possible emotions are given after each BL phrase unless the emotion is indicated within the phrase. (They are underlined for emphasis, not due to a hyperlink.)
Note: I’ve included a few body postures and body conditions as they are non-verbal testimony to the character’s physical condition.
Have fun and generate your own ideas.:-)
Eyes, Brows and Forehead
- arched a sly brow: sly, haughty
- blinked owlishly: just waking, focusing, needs glasses
- brows bumped together in a scowl: worried, disapproving, irritated
- brows knitted in a frown: worried, disapproval, thoughtful
- bug-eyed: surprised, fear, horror
- cocky wink and confident smile: over confidence, arrogant, good humor, sexy humor
- eyes burned with hatred: besides hatred this might suggest maniacal feelings
- eyes flashed: fury, defiance, lust, promise, seduction
- eyes rolled skyward: disbelief, distrust, humor
- forehead puckered: thoughtful, worried, irritation
- frustration crinkled her eyes
- gaze dipped to her décolletage: sexual interest, attraction, lust
- gimlet-eyed/narrowed eyes: irritation, thoughtful, mean, angry
- gleam of deviltry: humor, conniving, cunning
- kept eye contact but her gaze became glazed: pretending interest where there is none/bordom
- narrowed to crinkled slits: angry, distrust
- nystagmic eyes missed nothing (constantly shifting eyes): Shifty
- pupils dilated: interested, attraction to opposite sex, fear
- raked her with freezing contempt
- slammed his eyes shut: stunned, furious, pain
- squinted in a furtive manner: fearful, sneaky
- stared with cow eyes: surprised, disbelief, hopeful, lovestruck
- subtle wink: sexy, humor/sharing a joke, sarcasm
- unrelenting stare: distrust, demanding, high interest, unyielding
Place To Place, Stationary Or Posture
- ambled away: relaxed, lazy
- barged ahead: rude, hurried
- battled his way through the melee: desperate, anger, alarm
- cruised into the diner: easy-going, feeling dapper, confident
- dawdled alongside the road: lazy, deliberate delay for motives, unhurried, relaxed
- dragged his blanket in the dirt: sadness/depressed, weary
- edged closer to him: sneaky, seeking comfort, seeking protection, seeking an audience
- he stood straighter and straightened his tie: sudden interest, sexual attraction
- held his crotch and danced a frantic jig: demonstrates physical condition – he has to pee
- hips rolled and undulated: sexy walk, exaggerating for sex appeal
- hovered over them with malice/like a threatening storm: here it’s malice, but one may hover for many reasons.
- hunched over to look shorter: appear inconspicuous, ashamed of actions, ashamed of height
- leaped into action feet hammering the marbled floor: eager, fear, joyous
- long-legged strides: hurried, impatient
- lumbered across: heavy steps of a big man in a hurry
- minced her way up to him: timid, sneaky, insecure, dainty or pretense at dainty
- paced/prowled the halls: worried, worried impatience, impatient, diligently seeking pivoted on his heel and took off: mistaken and changes direction, following orders, hurried, abrupt change of mind, angry retreat
- plodded down the road: unhurried, burdened, reluctant
- practiced sensual stroll: sexy, showing off
- rammed her bare foot into her jeans: angry, rushed
- rocked back and forth on his heels: thoughtful, impatiently waiting
- sagged against the wall: exhausted, disappointment
- sallied forth: confident, determined
- sashayed her cute little fanny: confident, determined, angered and determined
- shrank into the angry crowd: fear, insecure, seeking to elude
- sketched a brief bow and assumed a regal pose: confident, mocking, snooty, arrogant skidded to an abrupt halt: change of heart, fear, surprise, shock
- skulked on the edges of the crowd: sneaky, ashamed, timid
- slithered through the door: sneaky, evil, bad intentions
- stormed toward her, pulling up short when: anger with a sudden surprise
- swaggered into the class room: over confident, proud, arrogant, conceited
- tall erect posture: confidence, military bearing
- toe tapped a staccato rhythm: impatience, irritation
- tottered/staggered unsteadily then keeled over: drunk, drugged, aged, ill
- waltzed across the floor: happy, blissful, exuberant, conceited, arrogant
Head Movement
- cocked his head: curiosity, smart-alecky, wondering, thoughtful
- cocked his head left and rolled his eyes to right corner of the ceiling: introspection
- droop of his head: depressed, downcast, hiding true feelings
- nodded vigorously: eager
- tilted her head to one side while listening: extreme interest, possibly sexual interest
Mouth And Jaw
- a lackluster smile: feigning cheerfulness
- cigarette hung immobile in mouth: shock, lazy, uncaring, relaxed casualness
- clinched his jaw at the sight: angered, worried, surprised
- curled her lips with icy contempt
- expelled her breath in a whose: relief, disappointment
- gagged at the smell: disgust, distaste
- gapped mouth stare: surprised, shock, disbelief
- gritted his teeth: anger, irritation, holding back opinion
- inhaled a sharp breath: surprise, shock, fear, horror
- licked her lips: nervous, sexual attraction
- lips primed: affronted, upset, insulted
- lips pursed for a juicy kiss
- lips pursed like she’d been chewing a lemon rind: dislike, angry, irritated, sarcasm
- lips screwed into: irritation, anger, grimace, scorn
- lips set in a grim line: sorrow, worried, fear of the worst
- pursed her lips: perturbed, waiting for a kiss
- scarfed down the last biscuit: physical hunger, greed
- slack-mouthed: total shock, disbelief
- slow and sexy smile: attraction, seductive, coy
- smacked his lips: anticipation
- smile congealed then melted into horror
- smile dangled on the corner of his lips: cocky, sexy
- smirked and tossed her hair over her shoulder: conceit, sarcasm, over confident
- sneered and flicked lint off his suit: sarcasm, conceit
- spewed water and spit: shock
- stuck out her tongue: humor, sarcasm, teasing, childish
- toothy smile: eagerness, hopeful
- wary smile surfaced on her lips
Nose
- nose wrinkled in distaste/at the aroma
- nostrils flared: anger, sexual attraction
- nose in the air: snooty, haughty
Face in General
- crimson with fury
- handed it over shame-faced
- jutted his chin: confident, anger, forceful
- managed a deadpan expression: expressionless
- muscles in her face tightened: unsmiling, concealing emotions, anger, worried
- rested his chin in his palm and looked thoughtful
- rubbed a hand over his dark stubble: thoughtful, ashamed of his appearance
- screwed up her face: anger, smiling, ready to cry, could almost be any emotion
- sneered and flicked lint off his suit: conceit, derision, scorn
Arm and Hand
- a vicious yank
- arm curled around her waist, tugging her next to him: possessive, pride, protective
- bit her lip and glanced away: shy, ashamed, insecure
- brandished his fist: anger, threatening, ready to fight, confident, show of pride
- clamped his fingers into tender flesh: anger, protective, wants to inflict pain
- clenched his dirty little fists: stubborn, angry
- clapped her hands on her hips, arms crooked like sugar bowel handles: anger, demanding, disbelief
- constantly twirled her hair and tucked it behind her ear: attracted to the opposite sex, shy crossed his arms over his chest: waiting, impatient, putting a barrier
- crushed the paper in his fist: anger, surrender, discard
- dived into the food: hunger, eager, greedy
- doffed his hat: polite gesture, mocking, teasing
- doodled on the phone pad and tapped the air with her foot: bored, inattention, introspection
- drummed her fingers on the desk: impatient, frustrated, bored
- fanned her heated face with her hands: physically hot, embarrassed, indicating attraction
- fiddled with his keys: nervous, bored
- firm, palm to palm hand shake: confident, honest
- flipped him the bird: sarcastic discard
- forked his fingers through his hair for the third time: disquiet/consternation, worry, thoughtful
- handed it over shame-faced: guilt, shame
- held his crotch and danced a frantic jig: physical need to relieve himself
- limp hand shake: lack of confidence, lack of enthusiasm
- propped his elbow on his knee: relaxed, thoughtful
- punched her pillow: restless, can’t sleep, angry
- rested his chin in his palm: thoughful, worried
- scratched his hairy belly and yawned: indolent, bored, lazy, relaxed, just waking
- shoulders lifted in a shrug: doubtful, careless discard
- slapped his face in front of God and country: enraged, affronted/insulted
- snapped a sharp salute: respect, sarcastic gesture meaning the opposite of respect
- snapped his fingers, expecting service: arrogant, lack of respect, self-centered
- sneered and flicked lint off his suit
- spread her arms wide: welcoming, joy, love
- stabbed at the food: anger, hunger, determined
- stood straighter and smoothed his tie: sudden interest, possible sexual interest
- stuffed his hands in his pockets: self-conscious, throwing up a barrier
- sweaty handshake: nervous, fearful
- touched his arm several times while explaining: sign of attraction, flattery, possessive
- wide sweep of his arms: welcoming, all inclusive gesture, horror
Sitting or Rising
- collapsed in a stupor: exhausted, drunk, drugged, disbelief
- enthroned himself at the desk: conceit, pronouncing or taking ownership
- exploded out of the chair: shock, eager, anger, supreme joy
- roosted on the porch rail like a cock on a hen house roof: claiming ownership, conceit, content
- sat, squaring an ankle over one knee: relaxed and open
- slouched/wilted in a chair and paid languid attention to: drowsy, lazy, depressed, disinterest, sad, totally relaxed, disrespectful
- squirmed in his chair: ill at ease, nervous, needs the bathroom
Recline
- flung himself into the bed: sad, depressed, exhausted, happy
- prostrated himself: surrender, desperate, miserable, powerless, obsequious, fawning, flattering
- punched her pillow: can’t sleep, anger, frustrated
- threw himself on the floor kicking and screaming: tantrum
Entire body and General
- body stiffened at the remark: offended, anger, alerted
- body swayed to music: dreamy, fond memories, enjoys the music
- bounced in the car seat, pointing: excitement, fear, eager
- cowered behind his brother: fear, shyness, coward, desperate
- curled into a ball: sorrow, fear, sleepy, defensive
- heart galloping: anxiety, joy, eager
- held his crotch and danced a frantic jig
- humped over his cane, each step shaking and careful: pain, aged
- inhaled a deep breath and blew out slowly: buying time to find words/thoughtful, reconciled
- quick and jerky like rusty cogs on a wheel: unsure of actions, self-conscious, tense, edgy
- rocked back and forth on his heels: impatient, cocky, gleeful
- manhandled the woman into a corner: bully, anger
- slumped shoulders: defeat, depressed, sad, surrender
- stiff-backed: priggish, haughty, affronted
- stood straighter and straightened his tie: sexual interest, wants to make an impression
- stooped and bent: aged, arthritic, in pain
- stretched extravagantly and yawned: tired, bored, unconcerned
- sweating uncontrollably: nervous, fear, guilt
- tall erect posture: confidence, military bearing
- was panting now at: afraid, exhausted, out of breath, sexual excitement
fun studying tip: if you’re a procrastinator, play tom jones’s “what’s new pussycat” on repeat while writing your papers and do not turn it off until you are finished, it will motivate you to finish that essay as quickly as possible
make sure to throw one “it’s not unusual” in the middle while u take ur quick snack break
Here you have the Infinite Jukebox that will play an infinite version of What’s new pussycat, randomly jumping through the verses and never getting to the end.
do you ever regret a post and the hell it creates
So I was notified via email that in order to vote in the 2018 primaries, I had to register my party affiliation, in my home state….by OCY 13TH
Holy shit guys. Please find out ur state’s voting rules and OH MY GOD PLEASE DO IT BEFORE TIME RUNS OUT. WE HAVE TO BEAT THE CONSERVATIVES IF WE WANT TO HAVE ANY MEANS OF OPPOSING TRUMP.
Voting abroad should still be similar to ur state’s rules, please….google is ur friend.
Holy shit please take ten min to google what to do and register.
To vote in the 2017 Virginia elections, you have to register and have your info up-to-date by October 16, 2017.
You want to make a difference? You vote in off years. Non-presidential elections. And you vote on all of the elections. It will take you a few minutes on your state board of elections website to figure out the issues, candidates, and where to get the info.
VOTE. Please.
And this year in Virginia, it’s a big election. Our governor cannot run again for reelection, and we’re up against a scary ‘I was Trump before Trump was Trump’ republican and a more insidious, Pence-style republican. You want people to stand up to Trump and create laws that support the local population? This is it. This is when it matters.
Vote.
Here’s how to check which district you’re in and who your rep is.
Here’s how to find out if you’re registered.
Here are the deadlines for when to register.
Here’s how to register, if it turns out you’re not.
Here’s how to find local polling places.
Tag it with “voting reference” and you’ll always be able to find it again.
What
the future
Omg lol
Idk how to react
everything is an oven if youre adventurous enough
I was getting pretty fed up with links and generators with very general and overused weapons and superpowers and what have you for characters so:
Here is a page for premodern weapons, broken down into a ton of subcategories, with the weapon’s region of origin.
Here is a page of medieval weapons.
Here is a page of just about every conceived superpower.
Here is a page for legendary creatures and their regions of origin.
Here are some gemstones.
Here is a bunch of Greek legends, including monsters, gods, nymphs, heroes, and so on.
Here is a website with a ton of (legally attained, don’t worry) information about the black market.
Here is a website with information about forensic science and cases of death. Discretion advised.
Here is every religion in the world.
Here is every language in the world.
Here are methods of torture. Discretion advised.
Here are descriptions of the various methods used for the death penalty. Discretion advised.
Here are poisonous plants.
Here are plants in general.
Feel free to add more to this!
An exceedingly useful list of lists for writers.
So, because people writing inaccurate kid!fic bothers me, a quick reference to kids (Disclaimer: I have no professional background in child development, and no offspring of my own – this is all based on other people’s kids.):
Newborn: Person-larva. Cannot do much but eat, sleep, cuddle, cry, poop. Cannot hold their own head up. May pick up on the mood of the person holding them, but response to it is going to consists of either contentment or complaining. Those are pretty much the two states of a newborn: happily cuddly or expressing displeasure.
2 – 6 months: Somewhat more aware of surroundings, own appendages, etc. Will recognize people, like some better than others. Smiles, laughs, babbles. Somewhere in here rolling over commences, and possibly crawling. Starts teething.
6 -12 months: Lots of babbling, but no actual talking. Crawls, pulls self up to standing while holding onto things, may start wobbly independent walking. Some kids are climbers (may heaven help their parents). Eating some solid food (as in, mashed up stuff), but still nursing / drinking formula too. This is the beginning of the exploratory, everything-goes-in-the-mouth stage. Still teething.
1 year old: Has teeth, eats solid food. Many parents wean at this age, but it’s not unusual to continue breastfeeding. Talks, but probably not very clearly – pronunciation will be interesting, and vocabulary very limited. May repeat a new word incessantly. Points at things they want. Physical coordination and verbal skills increase as child gets older. Maybe develop utterly random phobias, usually of things that are new or unpredictable. Interested in other children, may mimic older children. Still sticks everything in their mouth.
2 years old: Speaks well enough to be understood by those who know them, but not necessarily strangers. Uses simple phrases. May mash words together to express a concept for which they don’t yet know the word, or make a word up. Is learning labels for things, though they may not be accurate (i.e. all old men are grandpa, all round objects are a ball, etc.) Knows colors, parts of the body, types of animals, etc. Walks, runs, dances, etc – basically the full range of physical stuff, just all of it is kinda awkward. Can roll a ball or throw it in a clumsy way. May have a favorite toy, security blanket, etc. May play pretend games or make up stories, but they’re likely to be fair inscrutable to adults. Wants to do things independently, but is likely to be easily frustrated. Has tantrums. Plays with other children, but not terribly good at sharing or being nice. Asks questions; the ‘why?’ stage has begun. Toilet training begins around this age; girls tend to get the hang of it quicker than boys.
3 years old – pretty much the same as 2, only a bit better at all of it. Asks a LOT of questions. Has friends. Plays pretend. Understands rules (though is unlikely to obey them very well). Can count, though not very far. Speaks well enough to be understood by strangers; you know that so-cute-you-could-die kid-speak people love to write? This is the appropriate age for it (up through about age 5).
4 to 5 – cutesy kid-speak is age appropriate. May still have tantrums, still not the best at sharing, but should be starting to get socially functional. Can throw or kick a ball, jump, stand on one foot, all that. Can count, recite alphabet. Some kids start learning to read and write arond this age, though it wouldn’t yet be abnormal for them not to be able to. Lots of pretend play. Emotionally intense; everything is dire. Learning to be self-maintaining, i.e. may bathe independently but needs an adult to wash their hair.
6 – 10 – speaks like an emotionally immature adult; the things they have to say are still kid-like, but they should be easing out of kid-speak. Reads, writes, can do math – these skills increase with age. Understands and (usually) obeys rules, has a concept of fairness, kindness vs. cruelty, etc. Forms tight friendships, keeps secrets, wants to fit in and be liked; having a best friend or a group of friends is the most important thing in their world. Wants to be good at things; has definite interests and academic strengths and weaknesses. May bully or be bullied; kids this age can be mean. As in horrifyingly so. Has crushes (though probably still finds it acutely embarrassing). Understands death. Kids this age will curse, though hilariously badly. Still wants parental affection, but probably not in public.
11 – 12 – mini-teen, which is to say emotionally vulnerable, short-sighted mini-adult. Naive still, but not terribly so – has a basic understanding of human nature, events around them, etc. Begins to form political / ideological / religious opinions. May begin reciprocal romantic attachments. Strongly focused on collective identity, what ‘niche’ or ‘crowd’ they identify with. Some girls start puberty. This is also the age of things going badly wrong; kids know which other kids are the sociopaths at this stage. While everybody else is learning how to not be a mean little shit to everybody unlike themselves (or a bitter perpetual victim), those few who aren’t developing in a good direction become downright terrifying.
13 – 15 – somewhere in here, kids will start either facing major adult-scale decisions and problems themselves, or seeing peers doing so. Shit gets real. This is why teenagers think they know everything; the rose-colored glasses of childhood fall off, and they are suddenly So Very Jaded and cannot imagine there being more to the world than what they can suddenly perceive now, because it is overwhelming. Likely to be angry at the world, likely to gravitate toward ideological extremes. Takes risks. Forms romantic attachments; may experiment sexually, may not, maturity levels here very A LOT.
16 – 21 – moody adult with far more curiosity than common sense. Does thing in grand and dramatic fashion. Experiments with different identities. Wants total independence. Many develop greater social maturity around this time; stop seeing others in terms of cliques, develop greater empathy and ability to see things from multiple perspectives. Forms romantic attachments that may be serious or even life-long.
This is pretty accurate IME, and if you want more detail for the first few years, try Touchpoints.
just moving along like everyone else 