Does it ever seem awkward when considering the place of life that we are currently at? Do you ever feel that you are in a limbo of sorts, that there is something deeply off with the requirements of our age group, and the longings within our hearts? It seems that there is an inherent awkwardness to the teenage years for the American youth, particularly here in Orange County. While it seems that we are more fit, have greater opportunities, and are situated in one of the most beautiful places in this part of the world, there comes too a prevalence of sloth, apathy, and lack of appreciation. So where did we get off track?
It seems that inherent to the teenage age group, mainly from the ages of 15-19, there is a pervasive lack of confidence and expectation. So often have I heard parent's talking in a coffee shop about the problems of their teens being "just a phase" or simply sigh and say "teenagers..." Yet does it make any real sense to have a designated time of life post infancy, where serious behavioral problems are observed and noted without attributing anything to them but a sigh of frustration and an offhand remark? As teenagers, myself being in my last year of that age, we must ask, what are we really?
We are adolescent minds in rapidly maturing bodies...often. While we cannot stop the growth of the latter (guys who have had their voice crack at inopportune moments may have wished for this at one point or another), we oftentimes neglect the former. Yet ought we not grow hollistically? Are we not less of a whole being if our body is fully grown and yet our minds remain two to four years behind? Of course we are. Yet it seems that the teenage designation is producing people of this mindset. Oftentimes the ability to think is confused with the ability to recite a maxim or two about life (with the hope of gaining a reverent silence or approval), and make the claim that one has to shave every day (sorry ladies).
Perhaps it would be good to describe ourselves in what this time is, or ought to be about. For most Southern Californian teens, the latter years of this awkward time are spent in high school, living with our parents, perhaps preparing for college, or perhaps wondering what mom and dad will do if I should happen to not go to college. The party line of teens in high school is..."I cannot wait till I get out of high school," or "things will be so much better when high school is over." I am guilty of reciting these lines myself. But do we really know what that means? Do we know what we are calling down upon ourselves?
I was ready for high school to be over when I was 16. It was partially because of my 'teenage' rebelliousness, but a lot of it as well had to do with a desire to get out of this, 'you're a kid, but not a kid, but still a kid,' stage.
I recognize, and all my age ought to as well, that we are still learning. We are learning very much every day, or ought to be. It is an awful prospect for me to think that I shall stop learning in this life. But there comes a point where one has to detach from the veiled impunity of teen-dom and step forward into life's arena. This concept of the teenager is allowing one to lackdaisically float through a time of life that is critical developmentally. Are we as a society building young adults, or are we growing big kids? When one is faced with college, a vocation, family, does one really feel comfortable saying "mommy, wow, I'm a big kid now?"
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