Today's Generations Of Teenagers example essay topic

Membership in a community means different things to different people, which causes conflict between members and outsiders. Members of the teenage community encounter negative prejudices daily because of the preconceived idea that all teenagers engage in behavior harmful to themselves, to others, and to society as a whole. Because the prejudice is applied to all members just the same, undeserving members are assumed to be detrimental, fitting that criterion of a teenager, regardless of one's own behaviors and actions. The implications of the terms "teenager", "youth" and "teenager" vary in different societies across the world in response to political, economic and socio-cultural circumstances. The definition of a teenager in this context is a person between the ages of 10 and 19.

As a teenager, you face the crisis of identity vs. role confusion. Many teenagers are faced with this crisis and become paralyzed at the thought of what to do next. An well-chosen and suitable resolution is to have a comfortable sense of self as a person, both unique and socially accepted. An unsuitable resolution is fragmented, shifting and unclear sense of self. Unfortunately, some choose the unsuitable resolution which creates a downward spiral for themselves. Those who choose the unsuitable resolution have created negative prejudices for the teenager community of my generation.

The assumption of today's masses is that all teenagers are engaging in risky, maybe dangerous, behaviors. These risky behaviors include theft, dishonesty, lack of good judgment, involvement in inappropriate sexual behaviors, the list goes on. The teenage years can be a period in which individuals are burdened with conflicts with their parents, experience extremes in moods, and engage in detrimental behaviors. This statement can only be justified by the stage in which the individual resides, which is adolescence. Adolescence is the stage in which you are having role confusion and identity crises. Some experience these issues more intensely than others.

For some, however, adolescence is not a time of despair and anxiety. I know from my own experience as an teenager, I was suspiciously followed in every store I ever entered, disregarded by employers and expected to create problems for my parents. All of this was assumed, never backed by any evidence; evidence that I was to not qualify for a job, or steal from a store, or even disrespect my own parents. All of the judgments were passed based on prejudices already securely fastened in society and they seemed impossible to surpass. Teenagers that come from a more authoritarian or authoritative home with parents who are responsible and hold their children to high standards, seem to have the least difficulty and issues during their teenager years. Teenagers that come from more permissive parenting techniques tend to have the most difficulty and issues growing up.

This was evident for many individuals throughout my high school years. One individual was given everything he asked for, but was never given any rules to follow. His parents gave him the freedom to do whatever he felt was best and with that freedom, he made terrible choices. He rarely made an appearance at school, but always made an appearance at every party held. He also became a constant drug and alcohol abuser and didn't graduate high school. Another individual came from a well-to-do family with an authoritative rule.

She was held to high standards and if performed below those standards, was punished severely. She grew up with a clear understanding of her own responsibilities to herself, her family, and her communities. She always managed to maintain good grades, belong to competitive sports teams, and have a satisfying social life. She is a perfect example of the majority of teenagers that are aware of the consequences of their actions, and tend to make decisions keeping those consequences in mind. Contrary to present day prejudices, many of today's teenagers are extremely concentrated on personal success.

Today's generations of teenagers are not as lazy and as irresponsible as many adults would like to believe. If anything, many teenagers today are pushing themselves too hard. With all of these constant lingering preconceptions of teenagers circulating through society, it is difficult, and close to impossible, for any teenager to overcome the stereotype and claim hard-earned success. Regardless of your childhood social status, teenagers grow up in undue adversity and difficulty because of the stigma associated with adolescence. This adversity can be both positive and negative, unarguably. The adversity creates character and strength when individuals break the stereotype.

To overcome prejudices so engrained into society is an accomplishment in addition to the rest. These undeserving teenagers reside throughout today's societies and often never recognized. This is such an unjust occurrence for today's youth because it conveys the idea that adults have no hope for the developing teens of these recent generations, sending mixed messages and creating unneeded conflict. Teens are often disregarded as candidates for certain jobs, disregarded as intelligent thinkers, and as human beings capable of much good. This creates a problem for the teenagers who are perfect candidates for a job, who have brilliant minds, and who are human beings very much capable of good.

How will we, as teenagers that do not fit the criterion of the disadvantageous teen, rebel against the prejudice? Personally, I have tried in all of my years as a teenager to change the perception of us as a community, but never been successful. Not all teenagers engage in the dangerous behaviors that are associated with the community. Not all teenagers intentionally rebel for the sake of rebelling. Some teenagers want to develop into successful adults, just as the successful adults that run the world today did in their tormented teenage years. Many believe that teenagers are too wrapped up in the "sex, drugs, and rock-'n-roll" of life to be concerned with anything of relevant importance.

But much like many things today, it is all very relative and dependent upon the individual situation, not the situation of a whole community. I hope people will now see that there is much more to these unkempt, baggy-jean ed, messy-haired kids than meets the eye.