Title: The double standard
by Kathryn from Scotland | in writing, fiction
SCENE ONE
A father walks in and hands a University prospectus to his daughter
Dad: You're an adult now. It's time to make adult decisions about your future
SCENE TWO
The girl and her friend are at the front of the que to a nightclub. The girl's friend hands over her Id, but the girl scrambles in her bag and can't find hers.
Girl: I forgot my Id
Bouncer: Not tonight children'
isn't it past your bedtime girls?
He laughs mockingly as they walk away
SCENE THREE
The girl is babysitting and leads two young children by their hands to their beds
Girl: Ok bedtime girls, your parents will be home soon.
SCENE FOUR
The parents of the two young children come home and the mother hands the girl money for babysitting
Mother 2: Thanks! You're a natural! The only way I get through to kids is yelling!
SCENE FIVE
The girl stands face to face with a teacher who is yelling in her face
Teacher: That is not uniform, while you're a pupil here you will adhere to school rules!
SCENE SIX
The girl and her friend are at a ticket office at the cinema
Girl: Two adults please.
SCENE SEVEN
The girl opens a present she has been handed by her dad. It is obviously a present suited to somebody younger than the girl.
Dad: Happy birthday kiddo'heard it's the cool new 'craze'
SCENE EIGHT
The girls mum shouts at her
Mum1: It's time you started acting like an adult!
SCENE NINE
The girls dad shouts at her
Dad: You are my child and while you are under my roof you will do as I say!
By law at eighteen you are classed as an adult. Yet it seams that in today¿s society you are only an adult when it suits people and a child when it doesn¿t. For instance in this short script I chose to highlight the pressure parents can sometimes put on you to make ¿adult¿ decisions while paradoxically still trying to keep you as their little girl, and maintaining the ¿I am the parent, you are the child¿ kind of authority. Similarly in everyday life you are faced with this contradiction and I drew on my experiences of being charged adult fares, and given greater responsibilities but talked down to like a child by teachers and club bouncers.
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