Teenage can easily be called the most important time in one’s life. Today, teenagers are the most sensitive people and the reasons for that are innumerous. Teenage is a time when a person is still unsure about what life is and to add to the misery, there are various pressures – from the society, from the parents, peer pressure, etc.
Harassment on cyber space
Any teenager can be easily harassed on the cyber space. This is the time when people worry the most about their image and even the smallest of things like a bad picture of them on Facebook can affect them a lot. With the boom of social media, the teenagers have become more vulnerable and have more to worry about. They live by social media as if it is the Bible. They take internet seriously and even a single attempt to malign their image leaves them in distress.
Family tensions
They may give out the vibe that they don’t care, but nothing affects growing teenagers like their family. They are extremely sensitive and have the ability to sense the smallest of tensions at home. When these tensions grow bigger, they start affecting the psyche of the growing ones and thus, their behavior. This may also be the reason why a lot of teenagers feel neglected, hate committed relationships, and don’t disclose anything to their parents.
Body Image
During teenage people become overly conscious of the way they look. They all follow the idea of a ‘perfect self’ which the society has imbibed in their head. The society expects all the teenagers to look the same – thin, fit and glowing. And whoever doesn’t look like that is forced to change who they are and fall in line with the notion. This notion drives people to wear clothes which are made for their body type, their color and their personality, but because it is not in sync with who they truly are, the teenagers often lose their personality while doing so.
Education
First of all, all the teenagers are expected to be brilliant in studies and then they are stopped from pursuing other things of their interest. It seems like the society has already decided a role for them and if they fail to fulfill that role, they will be called a failure. This particular system of functioning inhibits the teenagers and stops them from thinking out of the box. The conventional idea of doing well in studies overpowers the potential of talent and creativity and leaves the teenagers frustrated.
Substance Abuse
Teenagers often feel that drugs are the easiest way out of a problem. They think that forgetting a problem temporarily might help them find a long-term solution and that is why they indulge in substance abuse. They take to alcohol, drugs and even sex, in certain cases, because they feel these things can liberate them. What the teenagers fail to calculate are the after effects. Substance abuse not only transforms a person, but also destroys their thinking abilities, their personality and their understanding of the world.
Parents often feel that it is their responsibility to keep pushing the kids to do better. No doubt it is, but there are better ways to do that. Putting your kid under immense pressure, driving them to the level of madness just to get a few good grades will only make your kid hate you. If you want your kid to trust you, love you and respect you, you will have to look at things from his/her perspective and then guide him/her. Don’t let the pressure from the society get to you, and don’t let your kid be the victim of that.
Teenagers are the confused breed of people who worry more than the usual people do! What we are generally worried about is the fear of being judged. Our clothes, appearances, looks, grades and many more things knowingly or unknowingly. Our online presence, crush issues, relationship problems, career (at times tho) and also the next party destination. But trust a word from this teenager, we are not at all irresponsible.