I'm going to throw teenagers a bone here.
We expect too much of young people at times. That being said, we also don't expect enough out of them at others.
Before anybody goes up in arms, allow me to explain. Yes, our teenagers should prioritize their academics and put their full effort into their homework. They should respect their parents or the authority figures in their lives and they should help out around the house/apartment/etc. when they are needed to do so. If they commit to something, they should be expected to follow through. And they should make moral decisions that don't go anywhere near breaking the law.
But doesn't anybody wonder about the other expectations that we put on them? What about the overbearing parents that push their children through sports, dance, or other extra curricular activities? Or what about the ever-growing body image issue that has led many teens to turn to eating disorders so that they feel beautiful? Better yet, what about the fact that society has basically driven teenagers to go straight from high school into a four-year university with a plan for what they want to do with the rest of their lives - when they are eighteen years old?
These are the concerns that I have for the members of this and future generations. We have become an efficient society of perfectionists. When I take a step back to look at it all, it hardly seems like current teenagers are given a chance to breathe. They can't possibly explore their individuality and discover their true passions when they are being force-fed society's method to achieve the perfect test score, the perfect college application, the perfect body, or the perfect volunteer opportunities. Not completely, anyway.
Expectations are double-edged swords. We need them to motivate ourselves and to benchmark our achievements against everybody else's, but we also have been known to take them too far. Expectations cause massive amounts of stress, especially perceived expectations. For years, I have struggled with the desire to want to do everything perfectly because it seemed that only the perfect people got to do anything exciting with their lives. Now, my friends and colleagues see me as the perfect person, but when I look at myself in the mirror there are days when all I can see is what I have done wrong. It doesn't matter that my grades were near perfect, that my job opportunities all are optimistic, that I take time to work out every day, or that I am an active community member. The self-set expectations that stem from societal pressures have become so pervasive that I sometimes can't separate them from who I truly am.
We need to resolve this before it gets any more out of hand for our future generations. Where does this stop? How do we know when too many expectations are hurting our youth instead of helping them?
Drop me a comment and share this post if it really speaks to you. I really would like to know what you think.
~TWBTM
We expect too much of young people at times. That being said, we also don't expect enough out of them at others.
Before anybody goes up in arms, allow me to explain. Yes, our teenagers should prioritize their academics and put their full effort into their homework. They should respect their parents or the authority figures in their lives and they should help out around the house/apartment/etc. when they are needed to do so. If they commit to something, they should be expected to follow through. And they should make moral decisions that don't go anywhere near breaking the law.
But doesn't anybody wonder about the other expectations that we put on them? What about the overbearing parents that push their children through sports, dance, or other extra curricular activities? Or what about the ever-growing body image issue that has led many teens to turn to eating disorders so that they feel beautiful? Better yet, what about the fact that society has basically driven teenagers to go straight from high school into a four-year university with a plan for what they want to do with the rest of their lives - when they are eighteen years old?
These are the concerns that I have for the members of this and future generations. We have become an efficient society of perfectionists. When I take a step back to look at it all, it hardly seems like current teenagers are given a chance to breathe. They can't possibly explore their individuality and discover their true passions when they are being force-fed society's method to achieve the perfect test score, the perfect college application, the perfect body, or the perfect volunteer opportunities. Not completely, anyway.
Expectations are double-edged swords. We need them to motivate ourselves and to benchmark our achievements against everybody else's, but we also have been known to take them too far. Expectations cause massive amounts of stress, especially perceived expectations. For years, I have struggled with the desire to want to do everything perfectly because it seemed that only the perfect people got to do anything exciting with their lives. Now, my friends and colleagues see me as the perfect person, but when I look at myself in the mirror there are days when all I can see is what I have done wrong. It doesn't matter that my grades were near perfect, that my job opportunities all are optimistic, that I take time to work out every day, or that I am an active community member. The self-set expectations that stem from societal pressures have become so pervasive that I sometimes can't separate them from who I truly am.
We need to resolve this before it gets any more out of hand for our future generations. Where does this stop? How do we know when too many expectations are hurting our youth instead of helping them?
Drop me a comment and share this post if it really speaks to you. I really would like to know what you think.
~TWBTM