Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Top Things Teenagers Encounter

by Ruel Miralles

 Foreword: I apologetically want to explain why I used the masculine gender in majority of pronouns here. I sincerely do not intend to discriminate or express sexism. I really apologize for being not politically correct, and I hope that you understand. Thank you!
 
Peer Pressure
   Peer pressure happens when one, usually a teenager, is influenced to conform socially to customs of a group of other teenagers by altering his behaviors and attitudes. Most teens experience such a situation as this. They tend to mimic the behaviors and customs demonstrated by some people their age, believing themselves to be better when they conform to socially accepted norms.
   Peer pressure is evident in many circumstances. It brings about so many unexpected changes to one who is assaulted by this problem.
   He finds oneself amazed at others' actions, and thus one attempts to act the way they do. He usually acts irrationally, enough for people around him to notice changes in him.
   This is undoubted to occur to one who marvels at any sorts of teens' activities like vices and fraternities. One starts to engage in alcoholism, smoking, and the like; the influence just becomes strengthened.
   I put emphasis to peer pressure because it takes place so rampantly. Teens publicly show the effects of peer pressure. They normally get into debauchery and struggle to get rid off peer pressure.


Identity Crisis
   Identity Crisis refers to one's failure to form his own suitable self during his adolescence. One faces some struggles of shaping his self-image. He experiences a wide range of inevitable changes when adolescence comes.
   This sort of crisis often results from experiences, performances, expectations, and other associated things. Failure to find himself may wreak havoc to his self-esteem.
   This also occurs when one is flummoxed about his strengths and capabilities. He is apt to be anxious and to have low self-confidence due to inability to unravel the mystery behind himself. Oftentimes one is confused, resulting to overcompensating for the difficulty of comprehending himself, and sometimes deviates from truth about his personality.
   Identity crisis ordinarily causes one to stray from his down-to-earth identity and leaves him with unease.


Sexual Temptations
   For those who are not in the know, sex is one of the most widespread problems that teens encounter. This is normally performed for reproduction by married couples, but it is nowadays recognized by teens as a source of pleasure of the flesh.
   Hitherto, sex is depicted through pornography. The feeling that induces sexual urge to one is lust, and pornography temporarily serves as voyeurs' comfort zone. Discussing the retrospective knowledge, pornography was normally intended for adults only. In present times, sex is widely popular to teenagers.
   Sex becomes habitually pervasively supported by people through voyeurism and fornication, and is eventually translated into action. Therefore, sex is almost known to man as a kind of wicked vice rather than a method of reproduction.
   At young age, teenagers start to possess the knowledge about sexual things, and are being tempted by sex.
   This is one of teens' current problems from which they cannot escape.


Romantic Relationships
   Teens these days involve in romantic relationships without adequate knowledge about how to handle them. Although there is still an ample time to prioritize their aspirations, they risk their emotions for facing this kind of adult endeavor. That is why teens' relationships don't last as long as those of adults. There are still experiences and challenges to precede love, but teens hasten to get entangled into relationships.
   These are not a problem unless they bring unwanted outcomes. Early pregnancy among the young is one of their most prevalent results. Owing to immature love affairs, teens enter building families without regular jobs to suffice their primary needs. Some male teens are not prepared to be fathers of their children.
   One of the results of young romantic passion is negligence of responsibilities. Teens are obliged and accountable to fulfill their dreams and finish their studies. However, love transforms into an obstacle and makes one neglect his accountability.


Immaturity
   Obviously, many a teen fails to meet the threshold of maturity. He cannot overcome the setbacks that hinder him from growing owing to his own inclination to possess his old and childish behavior and habits. He lags when it comes to learning the appropriate manner that corresponds to his own age. Unknowingly, he lacks the awareness of the right place and right time to put an act.
   Not only does he refuse to depart from his childhood customs, but he also has no enough preparedness to face the stage of stress and storms. He is hardly ready to accept his advancing into another form of human being.
   Immaturity also happens when one does remain inactive and lukewarm about things. He hardly entertains the thoughts of aspirations.


Lack of Self-Esteem 
   Some teens do not leave their own shells and prefer to live an excessively ordinary life. They content themselves with their so mundane lifestyles, and they often choose to be quiet and socially idle. One of the most plausible causes to which we can attribute their inability to express themselves is the lack of self-esteem.
   Self-esteem spoils the good characteristics that a teen wants to showcase yet tries to conceal. Some teens do not endeavor to grow socially because they are easily overwhelmed by their own fears that their own abilities are insufficient. Although they have in their own hands the relevant abilities people want to witness, they focus more on embarrassments and inferiority.
  As most of us notice, the number of excelling teenage students in some schools do not reach the half of the entire number of students. Clearly, mediocre teenagers outnumber the excelling students.
  We can probably ascribe the onset of the lack of self-esteem to some circumstances that transpired in their respective pasts. Some teens to whom words of denigration were addressed are started to be afraid to try to express themselves. Some attempted but were overlooked, making them discouraged to try again.
  This is one of the most unbeaten problems faced by teens.


Materialism-against-Poverty Problem
   This is the inspiration of a famous song entitled "Laki sa Layaw" sung by Mike Hanopol. While technology and innovations are continuously growing, teens become dazzled by new objects devised as time passes by. Teens become "gaga over materials" while poverty interferes, ready to have a bout with wants and needs of people.
   Despite the scarce resources that they have, teens cannot get enough of consuming gadgets, luxuries, and stuff, and they begin to whine because they have no more money for their primary needs. There grows in them the material addiction, and it becomes difficult for them to break this kind of shackles.


Godlessness 
   The main reason that teens these times are led astray by worldliness and uncertainty is that they are forgetful that there is a God who watches them through all their lives. It does not become an instinct to them to offer God their trust and faith and spend their prime years in serving God. They let their time be occupied with superficial contacts with the world and self-indulgence.
   They pay more attention to Creation than to the Creator Himself. Even though they are supposed to communicate their gratitude to the great Provider who never forsakes even the sinners, they are apt to overlook His effort to lay to them love and patience.
   Either salvation or worship is a mystery to them. If they only knew how God can facilitate the trials they go through, they would choose to pursue His path He bestows to them. But  it seems that even the name of God rests in oblivion among the present generation.
   To me, this is the worst of bad that teens now face.



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