teens accused - guilty as charged???

whoaa! its been a good long time since i've been down this road! first off, happy new year! well this year is certainly turning out to be new in terms of feelings, emotions, situations and expectations......but all rolled into one, we get the end product as teenage or, to use a bigger word to show my brainy self off, adolescence.

hmph! where does one begin with this? terribly done to death with boring, long articles and speeches droning on and on about problems with understanding, maturity and its cure. but all done by adults. here comes the reality check: adults really cant get at the real deal just because they've crossed the stage and not-so surprisingly enough, the times have drastically changed, even from one generation to the next. point being, its better to know about the disease from the one that endures it.

lets get started shall we?

accusation: teens do NOT value relationships.

the truth: that's the worse thing you can tell anyone, specially a teen. its now that they begin to explore various relationships and their true significance in their lives. it is now that girls go our with their mothers to spend a girls day out and guys actually break the ice with their fathers. it is now that they have infatuations and boyfriends and girlfriends. it is now that they treasure their friends. it is now that they finally know the family as a family and not as the sweet uncles and aunties who get toys and chocolates for the little five-year old. don't accuse them with this, because it will truly break their highly vulnerable hearts and in all probability, make them averse to emoting and caring for relationships that matter the most.

accusation: teens have understanding issues where parents don't get them and vice-versa.

the truth: that comes with the fact that they really cant have a very active role in this phase of our lives because we're so busy understanding ourselves, how can we possibly understand much else? and if adults in relationships and marriages claim at times that they are unable to understand one another, why are we the prime accused under this crime?

accusation: teens are not mature enough....for practically anything!

the truth: do you actually expect a teenager to know stuff very much out of their league and area of expertise and still expect them to enjoy the age they belong to? i mean if teens at 15 and 16 get into stuff like relationship counselling as a career now, when are they supposed to live the years of extreme crazes and fun times???????

accusation: teens are confused. period.

the truth: ummm, confused??? well if that's the case, perhaps the accusers would like to go deeper to the root cause - too much pressure! i mean, if you are actually going to ask the child to widen their horizon into various fields and be the best at it, at a time when they're supposed to make their career choices and plan out the rest of their lives, they're bound to be confused. you cant be a jack of all traits when its time for you to master at least one to suffice your existence.

accusation:teens have erratic mood swings and are not even tempered.

the truth: really? and it does not apply to any other section of society? with the exceptions of sages and perfect people, everyone has this problem. blame it on hormones but we're just growing up people, give us a break!

accusation: teen=mean.

the truth: not all teens are the bad boy and bad girl types yaar! come off it! don't generalise. that's a major problem with all our "society" and it shall be dwelt upon soon....

the biggest myth of all about all of the above: there is a cure.....

myth-buster: WRONGO!!!! absolutely not! though there are members of the teen group who can be found guilty under any of the above or any others but hey, there is no medicine, therapy or counselling that can undo what has built up over the years. its all a phase, we all go through it, it gets over, we're no longer part of it. that's it. the only way to actually get over stuff like this, is let time take its decided action on all of it. we have to just leave it be sometimes and not nag, okay! there are things that cant be talked out, cant be understood, cant be shared and sometimes, the perfect thing to do is leave it be.

to finally let you go from this teen-talk, one cannot predict or chalk out the lives of teenagers, because they are all so different and unique and special. each of us is on the quest for their identity and the time allotted to us is now. so the best thing for anyone other than this person to do is to be patient, calm and supportive but not imposingly so, so as to burden. just for the teen to know that you're there is enough, because believe it or not, we might look like we hate elders, who generously give advice and generally people who fall under such a category, we need you all the same.

a note before i take your leave: this is not an attempt for a teen to shame anyone or anything that counters these statements. this is also not a means of venting out anger of any sort. this was purely a means to get our side of the story across. a humble apology with all my heart to anyone that i have offended.

=D