TEENAGERS are often portrayed in a negative way, often linked with reports of anti-social behaviour and crime. But what is it really like to be a young person growing up in Bolton in 2003? Emma Deighan, aged 16, from Westhoughton, speaks on behalf of teenagers across the area.

TEENAGERS are often referred to as being at that "funny age" and, as a 16-year-old girl, I certainly feel that my age is a very funny one. I am constantly being fed contradictory information that leaves me puzzled as to whether I am a child or an adult.

When I recently went to the cinema to watch the latest 15 film, I went to the box office and asked to buy a child's ticket.

However, I was quite impressed when the cashier told me that I would not be able to watch the film for the child rate, as company policy said I was an adult.

On my next visit to the cinema, I tried to buy a ticket for an 18 film. However, I was told children would not be allowed in to see this film. But the company's policy was that anyone over 15 qualified as an adult! A perfect example of the funny age I am at. It seems to me that 16 is not just a funny age, but the perfect age to take advantage of and exploit young people.

Institutions all over Bolton find it perfectly OK to charge me the adult rate for anything from having my hair cut to going to the swimming baths, and yet I gain nothing in return. Sixteen-year-olds are required to take on the financial responsibilities of an adult, but gain none of the finanancial benefits of an adult.

For example, if a 16-year-old left school and was unable to find work, they could not claim Jobseekers allowance, although they would have to pay for everything as an adult would.

Exam pressure has reached greater heights than ever in the 21st century, as the race to get the best qualifications has left those with no qualifications with menial jobs and less chance of getting employment than in the past.

Teenagers today are constantly being told how we need to study hard to gain the best from our future. It seems that exam candidates cannot win. We struggle to achieve our potential and, when we do, we are greeted by the annual tirade of exams are getting easier and grumbles that "they weren't that easy in my day".

Balancing large amounts of studying can be difficult, especially when we take on part-time jobs. So it's about time we were given credit where credit is due.

The jobs that myself and my friends have vary a great deal, but have one factor in common. We are all overworked and underpaid. Teenagers get a lot of bad press and a great deal of the time those who criticise teenagers are those who can solve the problems that some teens cause.

For example, the person who walks past a group of teens causing trouble and tuts should look further than the drunken youth standing there. Alcohol has to be financed, and it doesn't come cheap. So, in more cases than not, the very people peeping through their net curtains at the group of uncouths down the road could be unleashing a similar nuisance in the form of their darling son or daughter.

The teens standing around at night form a small minority of the 13 to 19-year-olds in Bolton, but this minority can be a great nuisance to everybody around.

As a teenager, I know what my fellow teens get up to, and how these antics can be stopped. The greatest influence in any teenager's life are the parents they live with. Therefore, the misdemeanours of 13 to 19-year-olds can be nipped in the bud before they extend into neighbourhood nightmares. Many parents, when answering comments about their children's antics, say: "Well, what can you do?" In my past experience, this is universal language for "I can't be bothered doing anything".

When a 13-year-old girl goes out of the door dressed like Christina Aguilera in a heatwave, carrying a bag full of some mystery contents that clink, and returns home at midnight, having lost the ability to walk or talk, there is a great deal a parent can do. Not least is to stop giving her money to fund her night-time binges.

This kind of experimentation is what gives teenagers such a bad name, but when I had a heated discussion with a 30-something man I know, you could be forgiven for thinking he would be trying to show me the error of my ways.

However, I was struggling to justify why I do not go out every single night of the week, while this man was trying to convince me I needed to "live a little". He looked at me with a condescending glance and used the word "sensible" as though it were an insult. I wonder if he will be of the same opinion when his own daughter reaches 16?

Don't get me wrong, I am not the class geek, and I go to many alcohol-fuelled teenage parties. I, however, find the strength to do something different from my peers, which is not easy in the world where there is the ever present attitude that teenagers should experiment.

I don't get my kicks from drinking myself into a paralytic stupor, crashing on my friend's floor, and waking up without a trace of dignity and a mouth full of vomit.

In the meantime, I look forward to crazy uni parties, cheap student bars and appreciate for the moment not having to mow the lawn, worry about the mortgage, and wander aimlessly around Tesco every week in the name of the "big shop".

I would just like to ask for one piece of advice to steer me on the right path. Could somebody older please tell me what they know now, so that I can make use of it when I am an adult?