Teenage Life

A Story by teenagedream

We need to stop being so set in our heads and open our eyes a little.

Oftentimes when we think of struggle we may think of physical struggle of a disability or just having difficulty doing something, when a lot of times the struggle is just really in our heads. Throughout the whole world there are so many kids and especially teens struggling mentally with so many different things because they all are worrying about the same things going into Junior High/ High School, “Will people like me,” “Am I good enough.” Everyone is thinking those things plus, having the right hair, liking the right people, looking a certain way, dressing a certain way and they just get so mentally exhausted chasing after a certain look, a certain personality just to impress other people who are thinking and doing the exact same thing as them. At the end of the day we are so exhausted from worrying about what everyone thinks of us and trying to be like them, that we have no more joy or energy left to do anything else. All of this stress and pressure to be something that we aren’t is just backed up by constant scrolling on social media, where all we see is people having a great time and people who look amazing, when in reality their lives suck too and they struggle with so much, and the pictures they post are probably photoshopped to make them look better, so we want all try harder to be something that is impossible to be and doesn’t actually exist. All of these insecurities lead to so many more physically harming things, we may starve ourselves to be like that supermodel we saw on instagram, and we may become part of the 20% of people diagnosed with a mental health problem ages 14-24 or part of the 14.9% of people who took their own lives because of those mental health problems that usually start with insecurities or constant feelings of not being good enough. Another leading cause of mental health problems and suicide within teens and young adults is gender dysphoria, this is a severe problem going on in our world today, many people are sadly so unhappy with themselves that they don’t even feel like they were born the right gender so they literally change their physical self so then hopefully that will make themseleves happy once again, but many of them just end up making themselves so much more confused and unhappy. There are so many factors that go into the mass unhappiness especially within our teenagers, thankfully we have ways to try to prevent these things leading to the tragedies such as counselors, hope squad, crisis line, and so much more, but sadly that does not help the stuff that goes on behind doors, the stuff that happens online, the stuff literally just going on in our heads. Many times parents put so much pressure on students that grades are everything and unintentionally makes them fear if they start failing because it makes them feel worthless, then when students do try to reach out in a variety of ways to anyone, just to get the help they are desperately striving for, they get ignored or told that they need to stop faking it. We need to help this generation, we should not have to hide our emotions and torture ourselves because we feel like we need to be this perfect image since even though, society is as unperfect and ugly as it is, expects us to be perfect; we need to change because we are hurting each other so badly then when something happens we act like we care so much even though we may not even know that person, we may not have even talked to them, just to gain attention. I am so disappointed in us, we are all so ugly with each other, even the people that we call our friends. If we could all just finally stop worrying about what everyone else thinks then maybe we could try to fix this world that we are destroying. Just one little thing you say could damage someone so bad because you have no idea what they are going through and yet you feel like you have the right to start judging them and profiling them, to what, get a few laughs from your friends, i’m sick of it, i’m sick of us always needing to be the best, knowing the way to do that is by tearing other people down in the process, and still going ahead and doing it anyway. God did not create us to be monsters to each other and I think that it is a true insult when I see someone wearing a cross and also cussing or putting someone else down, because that is just such an insult, that isn’t how Jesus would be so I don’t think that’s how they should act. The point is that we need to stop worrying about what anyone else thinks, be yourself, live your life. We need to be who we want to be, do the things we love, not things that we think are expected of us; if we start doing the things we love and stop worrying about being accepted then we all will be more truly happy and stop going after others who are doing the exact same thing, we all are just trying to get through life and make the most of it along the way, and I am disgusted that anyone's life have been or will be cut short because of us. Think of these people, the 800,000+ that will never be able to live their life, their loved ones will never be able to give them a hug or hear them laugh ever again, think of that and tell me if you are proud, tell me if it’s still worth it just to get a couple laughs out of your friends. So often parents put their kids down in ways that they don’t even know they are like always picking out the little things that they do wrong and in their eyes they are trying to help them but then in the kids eyes they start thinking that they will never be good enough and will always mess up, and parents push us to much to be successful but how about to be happy. I thought that we were supposed to love what we are doing, but if that’s true then why do 45% of people working truly hate their jobs; and how can we be so ungrateful as to always complain when we are so much luckier than so many people in this world, some of the most kind and humble people are the ones who have nothing, isn’t that sad, the ones who have nothing to give are the most generous and always trying to find something to give. We need to set an example because I truly believe that it only takes one, one person to stand out of the crowd to make a global change. You would honestly be shocked by how many people were bullied so much in school for various reasons but now they are our idols like Sandra Bullock the famous actor who was bullied for dressing European after going on fun trips with her mom, or Tom Cruise who was not only bullied by kids at school but by his own father. We need to start supporting these people, not adding to their pain and struggle. How many will it take for you to learn, and when you finally learn will it be too late? Be better America.