Essay: Thinking It Through

1. Aside from the challenges that you have gone through or are still undergoing,
what other challenges do you see teenagers are facing? List down as many as
you can.

Based on my interview with my mother she said that most of the teenagers face a lot of
problems, challenges, and struggles in their life because we live in a very competitive
world today. This essay that I did will help you to understand the lives and the concerns
of the teenagers better. This will also give other people a chance to understand the
problems of being a teenage and be more sensitive to their needs and problems.
Parenting today has become a huge challenge. So in my mother’s opinion she
enumerates the challenges that she see in being a teenagers such as:

Drugs – This is a common problem that most of the teens face today. They could
be addicted to drugs due to a number of reasons. Mostly it is the peer pressure.

Study pressure – The teenagers today are under a lot of study pressure from
both the teachers and the parents. They have to get good grades so that they get
into a good college.

Pressure in a relationship– Many teenagers today are in relationships. This may

also include physical involvement with a person. When teenagers are involved in
unsafe sex it can lead to pregnancy and also other sexually transmitted diseases.

Constant need to look good – Many teenagers today suffer from body image
problem. They spend a huge sum of money on clothes and the way they are
looking but at the end of it they are never satisfied. Not all the teenagers can look
gorgeous as a result the others who do not have a great figure and looks start to
feel depressed and become introverts. They don’t make friends and like to stay
at home as they are too fat and not attractive enough to get a date. Some also
blame their parents for the dark skin or for not taking care of their diet as a child.
You may feel really upset to see this form of your child and also feel very
dejected.

Constant pressure to excel in all aspects of life – as a teenager everyone wants

to be the best in all the activities so that the other kids in school admire them and
look up to them.
Uncertainty about the future – Most of the teenagers are not sure as to what life
holds for them. Which college they will get in and what will be the career that they
will be making is uncertain as a result the students often feel depressed and are
found lost or day dreaming. Some of them are very confused on what they
should do and what career they should make

Drinking and smoking – A common concern that all teenagers face is of drinking
and smoking. If the teenagers are found drinking and smoking they must be dealt
with sensitively.

Depression– All the points that we have mentioned above can lead to depression
in teenagers. If you go by the statistics you will be surprised to see the number of
teenagers who suffer from depression. The number is only increasing. The
depression in teenagers is not a good sign as it can ruin the future if the
teenagers. The worst part is that the teenager may not know how exactly he or
she is going to deal with the depression. This only increases the magnitude of
the problem more. The cause of depression can be personal as well as
academic.

Addition to the social network– social networking has become the necessity in
the life of the teenagers. If you check the internet you will see how teenagers are
addicted to the net. They also invite unnecessary trouble because of this and
also get followed by stalkers. This can lead to a lot of crimes against the
teenagers. They are so addicted at times that they spend whole night updating
their details on the sites. They do not sleep well and cannot even concentrate on
their studies as a result they suffer a lot in all the aspects of life. This has become
one of the most common problems that the teenagers face today and cannot
even get rid of.

Eating disorders– This is a problem that is more common with the teenage girls.
They fear that they will become fat as a result they do not eat at all. Due to this
they suffer from anemia and anorexia. They become too thin and weak as a
result they develop a lot of health related complexities. This is a common
problem that teenagers all across the world are facing. Teenage boys on the
other hand have the habit of eating lot of junk. They do not have any discipline
and either they skip a meal or overeat at times. As a child you can force your kids
to eat healthy but as teenagers it becomes difficult to make them eat things that
are healthy for them as a result they suffer seriously.

Bullying - is one of the worst teenage problems and affects millions of youths.
Bullying causes fear in the minds of kids, and makes them nervous going to
 school each day. The adults do not always witness the bullying in their lives.
Bullying can be cruel when it becomes physical attacks on the victims. Some
bullies attack their targets physically while others repeatedly spew verbal insults,
affecting the psychology of the affected teens.

Drugs and Alcohol - Youths, particularly those who are in their early teens who
drink, put themselves at risks for many problems.

Cyber Addiction - Cyber addiction can be just as harmful as addiction to drugs or

drinking alcohol. Teenagers who spend unhealthy amounts of time on the
Internet or online suffer from a condition recognized as Internet Addiction
Disorder (IAD). Those who have IAD conditions may experience distress,
withdrawal symptoms including obsessive thoughts, tremors, and other mental
and physical problems. Cyber addiction impairs the quality of their lives.

Final Thoughts - Problems that teenagers are faced with today are multifarious
but interrelated in many cases. One problem invites another, then to more
problems.

2. Look at the challenges that the generation of your parents experienced when
they were teenagers. What are the similarities and differences between the
challenges faced by teenagers today and those that teenagers faced during their
time?

In my opinion, old generation were more blessed because they can feel the fresh air
and enjoy more beautiful and eye-soothing beauty of nature. No T.V, no internet but
they have more time to spend with their families that can leads to more fun, more
interacting to each other, more knowing each other, and better unity in family. No smart
phones and no internet yet, but they have the best of contact across miles because their
hearts were connected together and the feelings were more real.

My view of teenagers today is that they are essentially not any different than teenagers
were thirty years ago based on the story of my mother. Some of the details of teen life
have changed, but the basics remain the same. It is true that teens today are exposed
to more things than teens were thirty years ago.  The level of exposure to sexuality is
much higher today given the rise of the Internet and of cable channels like HBO that
show nudity on a much more regular basis than occurred in the early 1980s.   Teens
today have all sorts of electronic devices that allow them to be entertained and
connected wherever they are. But underneath all of these details, I would argue that
teens are not much different than they were when my mother was a teen. Teens still
feel that they are at an in between stage in life.  They still feel that they should be given
more freedom and respect by adults.  Teens are still trying to figure out who they are
going to be.  They still “try on” various personas at various times.  They still worry about
whether they will be accepted by peers.  These are things that seem to be relatively
timeless.  This is why my view is that teens today are essentially similar to teens thirty
years ago.

Every generation has unique experiences as it ages. There may be war or peace at age
20 or there may be depression and hunger at age 30. Whatever those experiences are,
they shape the members of that generation. As a generation ages it tends to lose the
elasticity for dealing with those experiences and become more concerned about
keeping the status quo. So, my suggestion is that generations are not really different;
they just have different experiences at different age points.

3. What lessons can be learned from the way the generation of your parents dealt
with the challenges that they faced during their teen years?

For me, there are many lessons can be learned from the way of my parent’s generation
deal with the challenges that their faced during their teen years and here are the 10
things that I learned from my parents that I will never, ever forget:

1. READ A LOT ALL THE TIME.

Books are a life-source. Reading is not a chore, it is an opportunity to explore and

dream and learn about the worlds inside of our heads and outside of our walls. My
parents taught me to love reading.

2. NEW THINGS ARE NOT WEIRD, THEY ARE JUST DIFFERENT.

Just because I don’t understand something does not mean that it is wrong. In fact, you
just might discover that the different actually looks a whole lot like us.

3. BEING SMART IS COOL. 

As a student, I was taught that smart and cool were the same thing. It was never about
the grades or the college admission; it was about owning your intelligence and making
full use of the brain inside of your head.

4. GET YOUR BEARINGS.

As a kid, I didn’t understand why we would wander aimlessly around a new city without
a destination. Now I do. It’s because the destinations can get in the way of the
experiences. Understanding a new place requires experiencing a new place – off the
beaten path of tour guides and guidebooks. It requires exploration.

5. KITCHENS ARE ONLY SORT OF FOR COOKING. THEY ARE ALSO FOR DANCE
PARTIES.

I learned that sometimes fun beats formal. My mom taught me that spending long
amounts of time doing something you don’t enjoy is usually not worth it. It’s far better to
invest in relationships than worry about doing things the “right” way.

6. SAIL AROUND THE WORLD.

Don’t settle for dreams that are easy to accomplish. Tell yourself you are going to sail
around the world. Travel to places that are far away and around the corner. Never, ever
stop exploring.

7. SOMEDAY, YOU ARE GOING TO NEED TO BUY A COUCH.

My parents taught me to save my money by telling me that someday, I would need to

have enough money to buy a couch.

8. OTHER PEOPLE MATTER. 

Like most kids, we were taught to be kind – but we were also taught to care. My parents
showed us that other people, regardless of their circumstance or personality, were
valuable. People have stories that are worth sharing and it is our privilege to bear
witness to these narratives. 

9. HIKING THE AT COULD GET YOU INTO BUSINESS SCHOOL.

If there is one thing my parents always encouraged my sister and me to do, it was this:
do what you love.

10. I AM LOVED.

I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am loved. Independent of any of my

successes or failure, I will always be encouraged, supported, cheered on and loved. It is
the greatest gift my parents ever gave me.