A teen’s point of view
Three disturbing cases of teen suicide in the UAE were reported in the news recently, and all were deemed the result of stress and unresolved family matters. Tempo turned to a teen to get a teenager’s view. Manisha Manikuttan expresses her feelings, and in her own words…
How many of you have done something you really didn’t want to do just to fit in with your friends? How many of you tried to cut yourself out of teen pressure?
When in high school, everyone is just trying to fit in, if you don’t wear jeans or if you are not active in social networking sites like Facebook, you are considered as weird and not cool. I have seen many teens spending their parent’s hard-worked money lavishly on stylish clothes, new gadgets, drinks, drugs and whatnot just to become ‘cool’ and to impress their peers.
The problem starts when one follows the slogan “come on, everybody’s doing it’.’ Curiosity makes youth try something. What matters to teens most is how they look in others’ eyes. Many of them spend a lot more time with their friends, and a whole lot less time with their parents, therefore they try to adopt what their friends do as a routine. But there are many who cannot afford “cool stuff,” so they feel dejected, lonely and are often isolated by peer groups. They get nervous attacks, burnouts, depressions and a few find “suicide” as the only solution to all their problems. Now tell me, is it worth risking my life, just to be cool?
Another reason for the unrest among students is the out dated system of education and examination. Frankly speaking, in many parts of the world the system of education is rotten to the very core. I don’t think that examinations are the real tests of a student’s achievements.
Students should be kept busy in creative, fruitful and social activities. Students think, “you don’t have to understand what you are taught, just be able to repeat the facts mentioned in textbooks in the exams to score good grades’’. This reminds me of a quote by Albert Einstein “learning facts is not education, but its ideas that matter’’.
Today’s education is more job-oriented. Youth get frustrated when they see a great deal of disparity between the theory and its application. They wonder whether all that they have learnt would ever come into use. At school students often feel deprived, and stressed because of a need to strive for perfection, worry over grades, parental pressure, competition, tough class load and late night homework. During revision and exams, anxiety and stress are common problems for students, even for those who appear confident and calm. When students fail to fulfill the dreams and the high expectations of their parents and teachers, they feel a sense of loss. Unable to face the bitter realities of life, a small number may resort to violence and commit suicide. I think parents should be very careful while dealing with their children. They should give their children some space. Parents who continue to communicate with their teens, even when there are conflicts, actually maintain closer relationships. Being a teen I find solutions to all these problems is by choosing right friends. Friends who are positive, supportive and funny can reduce your stress to a great extent. Having a good group of friends will help us to maintain a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle. Remember that life is hard but you have to learn to deal with your problems instead of running away them. Got a problem? Attack it! By doing so you will turn out to be the real “hero” of your life.
