Teens today have a lot of things going on. Perhaps too many things. Some people may argue that teens don't know what stress is and that we should wait until we have a job to keep and a family to support until we are able to fully comprehend stress. But contrary to popular belief, teens are under pressure every single day and we have EVERYTHING to worry about. Instead of jobs, we have class. But not just class, we also have extracuriccular activies, like after school clubs. And we need to be a part of these clubs so it will look good for colleges. We always have to be performing our best so that our grades don't start slipping and we don't start to get caught up in the wrong things. Most teachers and adults may not understand how difficult keeping up in school can be. Newsflash, things have changed quite a lot since you were in junior high.
However, the stress doesn't end at academics. Both guys and girls are struggling with more emotional issues. For instance, a ridiculously high amount of girls are struggling with eating disorders because of the pressure of looking just like a model straight out of a Victoria's Secret catalog. Not to mention wanting to impress your boyfrind, girlfriend or even crush by having the "perfect body." The South Carolina Department of Mental Health estimates that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder – seven million women and one million men.
Issues like these can lead to severe consequences, such as depression. And being teens and not yet fully mentally developed, we are at an extremely high risk. As many as one in 33 children and one in eight adolescents have clinical depression. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for ages 10 to 24.
As of today, teens are battling with a wide variety of problems. And most of the time, we don't even let on to what's going on with us. We are under just as much stress as adults are, maybe even more. So give us just a little slack once in a while.
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I think that many adults forget how difficult it is to be a teenager (me included!). Many teens are under a great deal of stress to the point where they are forgetting to be kids. Although some of this stress is brought on by outside influences - colleges, parents, etc. - you must admit that the other half of the "stress pie" is the result of the teens themselves. Teens don't have to date, be up to date on all of the fashions, and go out as often as they do. These are all choices that could easily be changed.
ReplyDeleteAs for giving you teens a little slack...sometimes that is the answer. But, other times, it is not the right path. We as adults know that you will be soon entering a world that does not give you any slack. When to get you ready for that world is often a tricky choice, but a necessary choice. The very definition of a teen is that he/she is a pre-adult, hence the "tough love."
I think that you are completely right when you mentioned that teens are under stress everyday of our lives. Personally, I'm currently taking six classes (two of them being AP classes) plus three different clubs, and each require at least 30 hours of community service for the entire year. I sometimes feel like I have no life because of the mountain of homework that seems to just pile up and never go away. My parents are pretty much expecting me to get into either Stanford or University of Florida, which are both becoming rather difficult to get into. When people say that teens don't have any stress, I think they are so out of touch with reality because our lives are just as stressful (if not more) than most adults lives are.
ReplyDeleteI agree that teens today are under many stresses, and sometimes it’s definitely a real drag, but sooner or later we need to suck it up and get on with it. As one could imagine, things don’t get easier as life goes on. As adults we have to deal with finances and budgeting, Wives and husbands, sons and daughters. To me being a teen is a learning process, to learn how to manage yourself individually for these upcoming things in life.
ReplyDeleteAs teens we shouldn't ask for pity from adults, but rather for support and advice on how they face these problems, to better prepare us for our future.