No doubt, there is no other part of childhood which defines all aspects of one’s life more than the teenage years. During these measly seven years, we severe old friendships, make new bonds, and walk the path towards reality. And in some aspects, we are expected to grow up faster than we have ever before.
Whether we care about our reputation or not is only a façade that we put up with, a mask that we wear to, ironically, protect our reputation. This complicated system of social networking has been and will be on every teenager’s mind. We want friends, all kinds of friends, the more the better, the cooler the better. Yet some are just content with making a few close friends, cronies that “got your back” in times of need. Friends make us feel safe and secure: who wouldn’t want someone that was always on your side? And to protect our friends, to hold on to our friends, we are willing to sacrifice anything. Just like the same they would do for us, right? But little do we know that this is the vulnerability that leaves us susceptible to drugs, violence, betrayal and revenge.
Ultimately, it is not that we refuse to face reality, but we do not know how to face it. Times are constantly evolving; the world is not the same as it was a generation or a few years ago. There is no one for use to lean on for support, no one for us to turn to. Confusion over what are we going to do with our lives beat us down mentally, sometimes physically. We might not show it on the outside, but that is only part of our act, our scheme for protection and, perhaps, our scheme for a hint of bliss in order to reassure ourselves that we, too, are loved.
When teachers or professors at school seem to guide us towards the right direction, we are grateful. This might be it, this is the subject we might study and work in for the rest of our lives. But when teachers slack off, we get frustrated too. Why aren’t you telling me anything? Is this what adults are like? We aren’t kids, but we aren’t adults either. More like, we are afraid to. We don’t want to be people that others belittle, look down upon. Many say that our generation is the luckiest, with all this technology and whatnot. But are we really? Physically, in the material world, that may be true. But mentally, it is just as grueling if not more.
Struggle? What struggle? Teenagers don’t struggle at all. Maybe every once in a while. Or maybe every second, of every minute, of every hour, of everyday.
