I did not realize
what it meant to be a teenager at first, I felt it was just a coincidence that
the ages between 13 and 19 ended with
-teen until I did something one day and an aunt said “oh, she is now a
teenager’’. I wondered what that meant, but I could not be bothered, until I
noticed I wanted to do things my own way, I wanted to act like an adult, I
wanted the responsibilities of my life and actions to be left to me, I just
wanted to be treated and accepted as an adult. More than ever, I wanted to be
noticed, I wanted to create an identity for myself, I become a lot more
self-conscious, I wanted to choose a click of friends that could be easily
noticed, I wanted to be one of the most popular girls in school, I wanted to
have the best school shoes, school bag and wrist watches, I wanted to be
admired by everyone; then I realized that truly there was a change going on
inside of me, that was when I realized I was really in the adolescence stage of
my life, I was a TEENAGER.
The teenage period is
the period that falls between the ages of 13 to 19, it coincides with the onset
of puberty i.e. the period the body changes from that of a baby to that of an
adult, it is the period of adolescence. At this stage, teenagers would like to
be treated as adults, but adults would not accept them as one of them, adults
see teenagers as grown babies, hence the conflict between adults and teenagers
and the rebellious disposition of teenagers towards adults. Teenagers discover
themselves at this stage as their intellectual capability develops more rapidly,
hence, their urge for adventure to discover life and try living their
fantasies. This leads a lot of teenagers to want to engage in activities which
are contrary to societal norms, ethics and values. At this stage, there is a
crave for independence, making teenagers take positions and views different
from those of their parents and other adults, but act in conformity with their
peer no matter how unconventional the act may be.
Some psychologists
refer to the teenage period as a period of “storm and stress” because at this
stage, a teenager undergoes physical, social and psychological developmental
changes. Their bodies grow in to that of an adult, they feel more comfortable
in the midst of their peers where they find social acceptance, carving a niche
for themselves and form their ideologies based on conversations made within
their peer groups, believing it is the perfect ideology to life. These
ideologies may or may not work, leading to the confusion of many teenagers, but
the because a lot of teenagers do not like the way adults treat them, they do
not ask question and decide either consciously or unconsciously to learn from
their mistakes, making this period “stormy and stressful”.
A friend once said
and I quote: “Sincerely, teenagers are difficult to deal with; we make and mar
our lives at this point and without a proper leadership and guidance, we tend
to make a lot of wrong decisions. I have had my share of the trouble and it
took me a while to my clear straight and clear.’’ After listening to her say this, I wondered
how many more adults have this kind of story to tell and above all, I wondered
how many more teenagers would say this by the time they are adults.
So, how can a teenager
go through this stage without encountering storms and stresses? We will be
sharing this in the next article.
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