Life of a Teenager

What is the life of a teenager like? Are you one yourself? If you're adults, you probably does not know how we feel. Let's explore that here.

What made me write this?

I saw this on YouTube a few days ago. Judging from that trailer, this film explores different emotions about being a teenager and the trouble that comes with it.

Fitting In

These days, the society is... different. If you are in secondary school, you must fit in. If you don't, you'll be left out. How do you fit in though?

When we were small, we do anything without thinking, that means we don't have to worry about getting embarrassed, and we can express ourselves freely, this makes us a lot more joyful.

When we grow up, this changes. We have to shred our childish emotions and turn to being anxious, worrying about your every move if you aren't a confident person. This makes us feel oppressed and adding on with the school assignments & assessments, this is a lot for people to handle. That's why most people use the internet a lot to escape.

Internet

The internet. A place for people to escape our normal lives and live in a carefree, entirely different environment. We can chat with entirely different people, we don't have to worry about our appearance, what we talk about, etc... Having friends on the internet may be dangerous, but if they are good friends, this can help us cope in the real world. This is one of the reasons why people stay on their electronic devices for such long periods of time. But social media exists on top of the internet which brings us to our next section.

Social Media

Social media is another reason why people stay on screens for such a long period. Having it is bad, but not having it is also a bad thing. It can cause you to stand out, and hard to catch-up to latest trends, or you'll not understand some references. TikTok is one of these examples. It can cause people to be stuck on their screens, watching 10 to 100 of unrelated videos each day that affect their brains.

If you are a parent, you might be worried about this: 'Should I let them use Social Media?' Well, you actually should! Without it, people will worry a lot about what they missed and they will actually have trouble fitting in. But, you must make sure they do not use it for a long, long time. I prefer using Twitter and Instagram. I have never used TikTok before, but it has a very powerful algorithm which could influence what you think & do (actually, every Social Media platform does, but TikTok has the most impact on people).

Gossips

Nowadays, people care a bit too much, whether on internet or in real life. You see, they have a reputation to keep.

But you can look at it differently. Imagine that you are someone’s boss. If you found out they are gossiping behind your back, you will be angry. Who wouldn’t? But look at it this way: it is not something you can control. Everyone gossip about everybody else, and if you try to stop it, you’ll just make it worse. Imagine if you said ‘Stop it or I’ll fire you.’ This will make the gossips towards you more negative, making it worse. That’s why you should not worry about those.

How do we solve this? Well, we can start from caring less. A little bit can help you improve yourself, but when you care a bit too much, it starts to become an unhealthy habit.

Conclusion

Well, being a teenager is very very troublesome, especially because they care too much. If you haven't experienced being one in this time period, you probably will have some misconceptions about it.

How do you reduce some stress? Well, the best way is to learn from little kids! They know a lot better than worry, so stop acting like you're all grown-up, and often let a bit of childishness creep into you! (Fun fact, do you know you could be childish & mature at the same time!?) This will certainly improve your mood.

Common misconception is immaturity equals childishness. But that is wrong. Childish is when you act like a playful little kid. It could help make you feel more free, and feel less influence from the teenage stereotypes the world has put in our minds.

If you like doing something, go and do it! Don’t let anyone influence you. Who knows? It could be good for you!

(I don't expect anyone to read this, and I don't know why I typed all this out.)

Thanks for reading to the end!