BEING
A TEENAGER, BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE
As we
grow older, we gain new experiences throughout our lives and these experiences
teach us various life lessons. Eventually, all of us will experience the stage
of life known as adolescence which is the stage we start experiencing new physical
and mental changes. This is when we call ourselves teenagers whereby we are
supposed to become mature. Although the age of 13 is considered the first year
of a teenager, puberty kicks in at the age of 12 for most boys, and a little earlier
for most girls. Some adults might say being a teenager is fun, but it really
feels like a dragging pain due to the new changes in our lives. Personally,
being a teenager is quite a confusing stage of life for me as I am unable to
make my flow of life simple and clear.
Let me
start with the problems of making better decisions as teenagers. We humans make
decisions based on the logical thinking and the more obvious facts we observe. However,
teenagers are little different as the brain interprets information using the
different parts which are meant for other situations. For example, an adult may
read a certain facial expression as feeling shocked, but a teenager may read
the same facial expression as feeling surprised. This is due to the teenager’s
developing brain misinterpreting the expression therefore leading to the
different answer. Another example is when a teenager makes a decision on
whether to study or play video games, he is likely going to decide playing
video games. The main difference between a kid and a teenager based on this
situation is that the kid will be scolded by the parents if he plays video
games while the teenager might not be scolded as the parents want him or her to
decide for himself or herself. This is the tough part of being a teenager as we
don’t get much help to make a decision and we are more likely going to make the
wrong one.
The next change in life for any teenager is
sleep deprivation and laziness. Many teenagers have a tendency to lose
motivation quickly which leads to boredom. So, if a teenager is instructed to
finish his homework or study, he or she might not do it properly and could even
fall asleep during the task. Often times, teenagers just simply can’t keep
themselves from feeling bored and tired. There have been situations of
teenagers falling asleep during class especially during History class mainly
because they don’t have the interest or motivation to pay attention. Teenagers
are often forced to keep themselves awake and active during school or tuition
classes. Sleepiness is also a problem due to the developing brain producing
melatonin as late as 1.00 or 2.00 in the morning. Melatonin is the chemical
required for a good night’s rest and is usually produced around 10.00 or 11.00
at night for most adults. A teenager’s brain produces melatonin late therefore
he or she falls asleep late and will have problems with staying awake in
school. So, it’s quite normal for any teenager to have problems staying
motivated and awake.
Another
notable change for a teenager is the ever increasing interest to socialise.
Humans are influenced by the people around them, but the influences give bigger
effects on teenagers. There is no doubt that teenagers have a strong interest
to socialise and communicate with more people to keep themselves energetic.
Many, if not all teenagers enjoy staying around with their peers and having a
good laugh with them. They just prefer talking and starting conversations with
their peers rather than adults or even their own parents mainly because to the
teenagers, parents simply can’t understand what they are going through. The
lack of socialising for a teenager can lead to depression and loneliness. But
there are some cases of teenagers who don’t like to socialise and prefer to stay
indoors and lack the interest to communicate with others. Usually, these
teenagers are computer-addicts, or study-addicts and they tend to be quiet and nervous. To make things clear, many teenagers love socialising
with their peers but some are introverts.
Furthermore,
being more rebellious is also another big change during adolescence. Teenagers
nowadays have to increase their efforts to keep in track with their lives due
to the new responsibilities and tasks. The stress from all of these tasks can
lead to a more rebellious attitude and sometimes even more violent behaviour. There
are many situations and cases whereby teenagers pick fights with teachers and
sadly family members as well. The unstable emotions of teenagers will make them
do actions that can harm others and themselves such as bullying, stealing, skipping
school, smoking and consuming alcohol. These actions are done because teenagers
want to show who are in control and that they are in-charge of themselves.
Unfortunately, the rebellious behaviour of these teenagers not only destroys
the mental and physical health, but also their relationships with others. In
more minor cases, teenagers show their rebelliousness by being rude to their
teachers, not following orders of their parents, and arguing with their
mentors. Often times, these teenagers need to go through months or years of
counselling to help them deal with these negative emotions and control their
behaviour.
As a
conclusion, the stage of life in which we become teenagers is the time of
massive changes that can be harmful if not managed properly. Parents and
teachers should help the teenagers to deal and control their emotions as well
as making more rational decisions. Parents should spend more time with teenage
children to ensure a healthy life for them and to help them stay positive. The
teenagers of today will be future leaders of tomorrow so some actions must be
taken to build and maintain a positive and optimistic attitude in them.
As
for me, I would consider myself as a nerdy, slightly introverted, and
constantly-mood swinging teenager.
Not
to mention I haven’t fully understood the concept of socialising like normal
people.
