Brooklyn:
Dear, please tell me what *facts* you have presented? A majority of your statements comes from personal experience and that which you’ve seen in your interactions with your peers. This does not establish fact. This establishes your proclivity and that of your friends. Certainly not a representative sample of teenagers generally.
I do believe that at the teenage (not necessarily at 13, let’s just say 16), the pros outweigh the cons. I think you forget that everyone was a teenager at some point – we’re not unfamiliar with the state of mind…
It’s clear that you haven’t fully left your teen years behind from your last sentence. You seem less interested in discussion and intellectual debate than proclaiming your experiences as undeniable facts of life.
When I want parenting advice, I go to my parents, who have “been there, done that.”