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March 13, 2010

Too much pressure on teens to be involved

Some people refer to life as a conversation.

Life throws whatever it can at you, and you respond to it. Often, your response determines what marvelous, and sometimes tragic, comeback life will wittingly spout at your presence.

But, what if you can’t get a word in edgewise? Don’t get me wrong _ it’s absolutely wonderful that teens have so many opportunities today. We have so many choices as to what to do after the end-of-the-day bell chimes its tedious, yet cheerful, chime.

These choices almost always reflect exactly what our ideals are, and what we aim to accomplish in our teenage years.

We often find ourselves pressured into situations we would not usually approve of. I know what you’re thinking, and no, I am not talking about drugs or gang violence. I’m talking about how being a successful teenager seems to be a fulltime job, plus loads of overtime, in today’s world.

We have been told since freshman year to be involved. So, OK, we join Spanish Club. We attend weekly meetings, participate in fundraisers, and everything seems great. We’re succeeding with little effort. Soon after, we’re told that Spanish Club is not enough. So, we join yearbook, and are told to take pictures, and edit pages. So, weekday nights, we log on, and put some effort into the yearbook. Not so bad, right?

Then, we start to notice how some kids who are in both Spanish Club and Yearbook also participate in other activities.

So, why can’t we? The feeling of inferiority is crucial to a teenager’s life, by the way.

So, we join a few more clubs. Our lunch period and after-school time is suddenly packed. School seems like an oven, and we’re the main dish. We’re not done until, once again, that bell rings.

When we get home, we unload our homework, finish that, and complete some minor tasks assigned to us from our clubs. But, then we’re done, and we don’t have to go to sleep for a while. That rush is gone, and we know that others are far from done with their day. Why are we done?

So, we take up a sport! A few hours after school won’t kill us, right? But, we’re still finished every day, with time to spare. We think about our community, and maybe being involved there. Maybe we’ll take a part in a local play. Rehearsals are scattered throughout the week, and suddenly our schedules are packed to the brim.

And, finally, we are told that we have done enough, and we are satisfied.

This, in my opinion, is a HUGE problem.

There is so much pressure on teens today to be involved _ it’s crazy! Adults always seem to be looking down on us, telling us that if we’re not doing anything, we should be.

Of course, there is a fine line between enough and too much. Obviously, priorities are boss here.

The truth is, adults, there is a substantial number of teens that work their rear ends off every day, just like you.

You know what a sad fact is though? Out of that substantial number, there’s a notable chunk that actually work harder than you. I know a few teens who leave their houses at 7 a.m. and rarely come home before 9 p.m.

Think of your daily conversation with life. Are you the one who ends up slipping on the walkway, or do you step with such a spring that surpasses such slips?

I’m not a biologist. Gosh, I’m hardly even legally an adult.

But, I think it’s only healthy to have some time set aside to actually enjoy your chat with life. The truth is, life isn’t only a conversation. Life is an adventure from Point A to Point

B. It’s what you do on the way there, and how you do it, that really matters.

DAN CLARK is a senior at Afton Central School. `Teen Talk’ columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/ teentalk.

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