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Tension- Do you think kids don't have any?

I was travelling in metro when a kid caught my attention. She was discussing about the 'tensions' in her life. I got interested.
The kid was about 13 years old. Nicely dressed with a sweet demeanor. I started Evesdropping. What all could be the tensions of a teenager. She had a concern that internet at their home was slow, which reduced the pace of her project. Her rival would be submitting her project in a week's time. Next was that almost all her friends owned smart phones (she termed it as hi-fi :)), where as her parents never allowed her to play with their phones for more than an hour in a day.
Next was about her upcoming birthday party. She wished to have a grand party and wanted to wear a short skirt.
There were few more things. But I loved the way her mother handled it. She was all ears for her daughter and the kid felt happy about being heard. She was opening up. The mother never said No for any of the demands, instead she discussed on whys and whats.
I was taken back to my childhood, the age of no-internet. Kids of my time had typically the same 'tensions'. Which teacher would be on leave that day, will father give me money to buy a Boomer, hope the teacher does not hold any surprise test, what if I'm punished and made to sit on the first bench or with the girl whom I detest. And yes our parents had an answer to everything. Watching TV for an hour required permission. First from mom who diverted the kid to dad with the same question, who in turn sent the kid back to mom. But the parents had a silent agreement on disagreeing. One more tension was asking Rs.50/- for class picnic. PTM and signature on the mark sheet completed the cycle of tensions.
I was still thinking about the petty matters which were serious issues for a kid(from my time), when the metro stopped. I saw the kid leaving with her mom and they were discussing about the upcoming long weekends.
Kids these days are so smart. I smile to myself and start listening to the smart kid next to me who seems to know everything about cars...

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