Growth and Teenagers

By: Sthembile Shabalala

An adolescent is a stage where by teenagers become irresponsible and do not listen to their parents. It is a new life where teenagers want to experiment and experience. This simply means that a child is growing in such a way that they eventually prefer to have the company of their peers than their adults especially their parents.in this case parents become their worst enemy.

Many young people want to be independent at a very early stage. Independence does not mean that one has to do whatever they feel like doing whenever they feel like doing it. It simply means you are given a benefit of a doubt that you are able to stand on your own and be a responsible, matured young person. But the youth of today tend misuse the word independent as an excuse to do as they please even if it means disrespecting their adults.

 Most parents find it hard and almost impossible to understand what they must expect from their teenagers and may be either over-protective or over-confident about their children's independence and ability to protect themselves.

 The problem is that children who are over-protected sometimes do things secretly behind their parents' backs and do more damage than the under-protected. Others run into difficulty when they are confronted with situations where they are expected to cope alone. In both these situations young people can feel un-supported and worthless by their own parents. They can fall victims of crimes and exploitation because they never had an opportunity to talk about or practice independence skills.

On the other hand peer pressure has always been an issue which plays a major role in the decisions that are made by individuals. Parents are not the same will always be different. Others are stricter and others let you make your own mistakes and learn from them. At the end of the day parents only want the best for their children even if it means they have to show you the hard way. Either way teenagers tend to copy the behaviour of others whether it is good or bad.

The media also plays a role in children wanting to gain their independence at an earlier stage. They want to be as independent because of the people that they see in magazines and Television. They tend to look up to their role models especially that live the western life.  The media can influence a young person’s self- esteem especially when it comes to body shape. Media always portrays skinny, light women as the cool version of being young beautiful woman. This in turn for young women makes them want to be independent and live the life that they see on Television.