Problem: Article: If you and your parents are happy with your grades, keep up the good work! If you feel your grades need improvement, make it known that you are working to improve them. Your parents will be far more likely to grant you more independence if they aren't worried about your school performance.  Try to stay positive; feeling discouraged and defeated will only interfere with your progress.  Ask your teachers for help as soon as you notice you are falling behind. Don't wait until you are so far behind that you are struggling, or it will be harder to catch up.   Ask your parents if they would be willing to hire a local college student to help you with your most challenging subject.  Bring a digital pen to class. Smart pens transfer your notes to digital form while you write, and record lectures so you can listen to them later at home. Travel is an excellent way to experiment with independence. Check with your guidance counselor to see what opportunities are available through your school, or research commercial options online.  Clubs and teams often travel together as a group. The debate team usually travels out of state for tournaments, and sports teams travel for state finals. If your school or club organizes a trip for a charity organization, they will invite the students who have some experience with volunteer work. Studying abroad as an exchange student is a wonderful way to establish your independence. With a good GPA and well-rounded transcript, you may qualify for a scholarship to help cover the costs.  Consider a language-immersion program through an organization like API. You'll be living in another country while you study the native language. Learn all you can about jobs that you might enjoy, and what skills and education they require. Research schools you would like to attend, and what you need to do to earn scholarships and grants. Your parents will be more willing to give you more freedom if they know that you are thinking about the future.  Don't avoid making a decision because you worry that you will limit yourself. You will be free to make changes to your plans later, as you encounter new opportunities.  Discuss career options with your parents. Be honest with them, and speak to them as an adult.  Visualize your future. Imagine yourself having a certain type of job, or studying a particular subject, and see if it feels right for you. Studies show that visualization helps to achieve goals. As tempting as it is to post things impulsively, try to be careful about what you post to the internet. A good online reputation is a definite asset. As you gain more freedom and independence as a teen, be careful that your current actions don't negatively affect your future.  Prospective employers will almost certainly research your social media presence and take that into account when deciding whether to hire you. The more competitive schools may want to see your social media accounts, as well. Even if you don't think anyone will directly check your accounts, it's better to play it safe. Anything you post to the internet is out there forever, and you may not even be aware that it's visible to the public. Consider googling yourself, and do a little damage control if necessary.
Summary: Get good grades. Travel whenever possible. Research schools and career paths that interest you. Monitor your social media presence.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: Don't fall into a trap of matching laziness with laziness.  Instead, always do your work effectively and efficiently, challenging yourself to do your very best.  You'll set an example for your coworkers, your boss, and your job consistently well may have long-term payoffs, such as a promotion. You may be tempted to give your boss a taste of their own medicine and be equally lazy.  This is rarely productive, as your boss is likely unaware that you are mirroring their behavior, instead seeing you as independently lazy. Your boss may have reasons for their behavior that you're not aware of, or they might have personal issues impacting their work performance.  Before you complain to HR, try to understand your boss, what makes them tick, what they care about, and what frustrates them. Just as you have an entire life outside of the workplace, so does your boss.  You may not know that they have another full time job, or that they’re ill, or that they’re taking care of a colicky newborn. Getting to know your boss establishes a rapport and allows you to understand their position a bit better. Get to know the layout of the company and learn the chain of command.  While it is not the first or second best option, it is good to know who your boss's boss is, in case you need to escalate the issue. This step is for primarily for your information, because you want to try different approaches first.  It is good information to have on hand if all else fails, though. It might be that your boss is not lazy, but does not fully understand your work description, theirs, or your coworkers’.  Similarly, work tends to trickle downward, and that’s especially true with a lazy boss.  Read through all relevant job descriptions and if you find that you’re doing more than what you were hired to do, have a conversation with your boss about assigning tasks to the appropriate employee, which may be them.  Often on-the-job responsibilities change much faster than job descriptions are updated. There is also sometimes a murky overlap among positions, leaving room for confusion about who is responsible for what.
Summary:
Focus on yourself. Get to know your boss. Learn the company structure. Read job descriptions.