Teenage life is stress inducing
"But all this stress can also derive from social situations. They end up almost peer pressuring themselves into doing things out of their comfort zone, either for good or bad. But exponentially pushing themselves to become someone else in a way to not feel out of the loop."
Posted Nov 15, 2023
News Editor
“Falling behind” is a worry in the back of many teens' minds, thanks to expectations of what their lives are supposed to look or be like by a certain age. As soon as they can, they should already have a job. Or a permit, a license, an idea of what to do after highschool and subsequently the rest of their future already planned out in front of them. The expectation to be something their family would be proud of. The academic side is mostly pushed by school, teachers and counselors, which overall is a good thing. It promotes the idea of colleges and helps students have a more accessible way to pursue careers they are interested in. The mental and emotional drain comes in when it indirectly makes students who don’t have it figured out yet feel alienated.
But all this stress can also derive from social situations. They end up almost peer pressuring themselves into doing things out of their comfort zone, either for good or bad. But exponentially pushing themselves to become someone else in a way to not feel out of the loop. So many people point at how their teens and early twenties are the highest point of their lives. As if the end of this chapter in their lives symbolizes the end of their lives. This toxic way of thinking leads to those years ending up being just a collection of worrying of doing “the right thing” and using their time to its fullest.
The idea is so engraved in the brains of our youth that the pattern starts with kids wanting to grow up fast and then reaching the age of high school and realizing their “best years” were their years of middle school and down. Free of social obligations other than school. Different groups will always have different views and opinions on what “the best years of one’s life” are, and that is okay. Life is an ongoing cycle and there is no right or wrong time for you to make a change concerning the direction of your life.
Even with the stress of mundane life, the so-called “boring life” as long as you are not hurting anyone or yourself, the choices you make are all yours and no one else's, and that in some sense serves as comfort.