YOUNG VOICES

Pressure applied by parents pushes teens astray

'Clean your room ... do your chores ... clean the cat box ... don't be home late ... don't run with suckers in your mouth... watch your little sister ... don't get married, you're too young," and my personal favorite, "you're growing up now, act your age." Sound familiar? These are all things that at one point or another each of us has probably heard from our parental units. Well, here's what I have to say in response.

At this time in life, we are growing older, but still want to be kids. Yes, we have our responsibilities and our commitments, but by not letting us have the last of our fun, we are losing precious learning time. Parents have always wanted the best for their children. But by not letting some of life's lessons be learned on their own, teens are more susceptible to falling into the steps of their parents, in turn draining independence away from today's youth. The expectations that are put onto teenagers are too stressful. "High-stress teens are twice as likely as low-stress teens to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs," according to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, "The more you stress out about being the perfect child, the more likely you want to smoke and drink. Because you subconsciously don't want to be perfect. Then you become highly rebellious, due to a feeling of overwhelming failure. Then you give up," said one of my peers who has experienced the extreme of stress from parents.

So, what we have to say to our parents is, "Chill." We are trying to work on our character, personality, and the overall fact of growing up. Some may want to grow up faster than others, but believe us, we will grow up in our own time. We do listen when you think we are not, and we do think about what you said if we are presented with a problem. We do care and we do love our parents. Just let us deal with our own stress and grow up in our own time.

Amanda Heilmann, 17
22 November 2004

http://www.columbian.com/11222004/clark_co/214380.html
 

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