Question of the Day: Day 167
What do you think are some of the hardest things that teenagers have to deal with? How could people help them with those issues?
posted by Michelle at 8:33 AM
Friday, June 16, 2006
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- Question of the Day: Day 166
- Question of the Day: Day 165
- Question of the Day: Day 164
- Question of the Day: Day 163
- Question of the Day: Day 162
- Question of the Day: Day 161
- Question of the Day: Day 160
- Question of the Day: Day 159
- Question of the Day: Day 158
- Question of the Day: Day 157
7 Comments:
In My Opinion the most difficult thing a teenager has to deal with is how to become his or her own person. How to be a true human being.
I spent most of my early life being told, either verbally or physically how to do (or not do) things - to unquestioningly respect "authority", or else.
As a teenager this started to change for me. I started questioning authority, experimenting with my ideas of what I wanted to do, and how to do it.
To my later horror, I found that I had inherited most of the worst, most subtle elements of my parents' dogmatic behavior, and I became a very unhappy person because there were places where I totally lacked self-definition. Although I could identify where a lot of my problems originated, I couldn't seem to cut losse from them.
Of course, it took; drug addiction, workaholism, depression, a nervous breakdown, isolation, which led to therapy, meditation, (some self-medication), research, and much pondering for me to realize something simple - a lot of what my parents did was unmindful and caused them (and me) great harm.
I realized that I had spent a lot of the time assuming I was a product of my upbringing, and ignored the fact that I must become a creator of myself and my future.
If, instead of saying the pledge of allegience in school, or fighting for (or against) school prayer, our teenagers spent 2 minutes every morning, sitting comfortably, and repeating the question "Who am I?", we would have a far healthier society.
I think the most difficult thing for teens is the desire to be accepted by those they consider to be the "in" crowd. That, and the idea of being "different" - most of them wind up being just like everyone else without realizing it.
A strong, faith-based moral structure can help avoid these difficulties; or at least minimize them.
I believe that among the most difficut things teenagers have to deal with are self-image, peer pressure, trying to "measure" up in an ever growing materialistic world, often being torn between who they are & who main-stream society says they should be, struggling to self define what the word success means to them personally, ~ due to lack of life experience, realizing that all things come to pass {neither the best or worst of times are permanant, and the frustration of both raging hormones & being too old for one thing & to old for the other... striving to be independent in a world in which even basic needs require a "fair" salary.
We can help them with those issues by example, having frank discussions with them, being empathetic, defining clearly our expectations of them, assigning age appropriate responsibilites to them, making them accountable for their actions~ even thought we may want to save their hides... allowing them to learn lessons about consequences, & overall preparing them for the real world. {It aint all MTV, guys.}
~ that should have read too old for one thing & too YOUNG for another...
I suspect you already knew that.
To learn the really hard lessons about the fact that there is so much meaness in this world, and that many people will never care no matter what you say or do. How do they learn to be insulated and not isolated? If you can somehow
instill in them a consciousness of the essence of feedback from the "Questions of the Day" and a long term orientated belief ethic whereby they can learn to find a balance between passion and compassion-creativity and projectivity-love and lust-decency and desire, then the beauty that is of the world won't be lost to them in the world. Their dreams will become what they give, instead
of what they get...At least, if I had a child...I would try to relate what I've learned the hard way, and try to give them the benefit of it, while letting them make their own mistakes, and being there when they fall.
I think that being true to themselves when they haven't yet even figured out who they are yet is one of the hardest things for teenagers to deal with.
I think that adults tend to try and "save" teens from making the same mistakes that they made and that just does not tend to work. Kids need to make their own mistakes and learn from them and adults need to just let them happen.
okay no offense to the adults on this website but your little doctor phil accusations arent always so accurate as you think. peer presure is not always the answer too everything. many teenagers i know wouldnt have so many problems if parents would take a little more time and talk with there kids...yea we say we hate it when our parents get involved but 99% of the time its because we want the help. its not always peer presure that gets kids to try smoking, drinking or acting out in any other way. sometimes they are just trying to find themselves who they are as person what they like and the more parents teachers who ever lock them up and hide them from these things they will rebel in the most unbelivable ways. peer presure could be the reason at times but now a days its an excuse to get them out of trouble. like have any of your childern blammed it on a friend for a reason they acted out? if so then you immediately told them not to talk to that person any more right? well they will go tell there friend that your trippan and said that yall cant kick it...sound familar? teens are more smarter then they get credit for..think its still peer presure or maybe now you took a differnt out look on things and you can see that each indvisual has there own mind and there actions are mainly for themselves and not always too fit in..
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