The world changes and so do the people living in it. It is more difficult than ever to be a teenager. Teens are those between the ages of 13 and 20. Every teen has problems, there’s no doubt about that. No matter how happy they seem from the outside, every teen has to go through difficulties at least once. Some have nervous breakdowns; many suffer from exam stress, from being ignored or bullied – the list could go on and on.
But it would still not cover every problem that teenagers are facing today. These problems play an important role in their lives as they show how they will be able to handle problems in the future as adults. Now even young teens are saying that everyone faces these things.
Teens somehow tend to be more emotionally sensitive than those older or younger than themselves and certain factors make the lives of this new generation more difficult than those of their predecessors:
- Depression
- Peer pressure
- Drugs
- Alcohol
- Divorce.
These five things make it very difficult to be a teenager. Depression is not something to be taken lightly. It can be more severe and intense in teens than in adults. Depression can later combine with peer pressure, forming one of the biggest and most common problems. A teenager suffering from peer pressure loses his sense of judgment and can associate with the wrong king of people.
Other things that cause peer pressure are not getting good grades, not being selected for a school play or baseball team, having a fight with a close friend, feeling inferior to some popular guy or girl at school. These things may seem insignificant to adults but they are of great importance to teenagers.
They lead to irritable behavior and sometimes teens are not able to communicate properly with their parents, who hardly have time for family life in their busy schedules. So instead of trying to understand their children’s troubles parents often punish them for their exasperating behaviour. Drugs are the major problem.
A few years ago drugs were considered a threat only to adults but nowadays they are a major problem in student life. For example, a thirteen-year-old boy who wasn’t selected for the baseball team suffered from peer pressure. He took steroids, just so he would get into the team, becoming so strong that he could break a concrete wall with his bare hands.
After this he did get selected but was unable to play in the final game because the steroids affected his brain and he committed suicide. Now let’s talk about teenage drinking and smoking. Due to decreased parental attention more and more teens have begun drinking and smoking without their parents being aware of it. This is not just socially wrong but causes many medical problems.
Their parents are at work until five o’ clock in the evening and don’t know what’s going on in their youngsters’ lives. Another major problem for teenagers is divorce. Just the mention of the word destroys the trust between parents and teenagers. Yes, this single word can destroy a family.
Divorce is something that can harm teenagers’ empathy and their sense of responsibility. In the past it was thought that boys suffer more in divorce than girls but new research makes it clear that girls and boys suffer equally, the only difference being how they show it. Boys display the outward symptoms of depression: they act out their anger, hurt and frustration, they get into trouble at school and into fights in the street and use abusive language. Girls, on the other hand, internalise their distress.
They become depressed, develop headaches and other physical and mental problems. This deterioration begins before the parents separate. The parents’ constant fighting causes anguish and teenagers begin to hate their parents and lose their belief in the word ‘family.’ Teenage years are the time when most guidance is needed, but due to their fast way of living parents hardly have time for their children.
So as a result of this lack of guidance teenagers get into the wrong company and eventually grow away from the family and closer to often unsuitable friends. Their parents may feel helpless, but it is not impossible to maintain family unity. The only things teenagers crave are attention and to know that they are important to their parents. All that is needed is some effort and this destruction of the new generation can be prevented.
