By our Teen Blogger Rhian
Ha! I’ve said it before – it’s not easy being a teen – and some of the adults who read my blogs, were keen to rubbish my statements without stopping to consider that the environment they grew up in provided them with a very different experience compared to the one teens are going through today.
And, while we’re at it, thank you to those who point out my spelling mistakes, cause I’m sure you’ve never made any before!
Also, for the person who was “staggered” at my assertion that Shakespeare and Winston Churchill had problems with the English language – Shakespeare spelt his name differently on several occasions during the course of his life (*George Turnbull Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 2007) and Winston Churchill’s lack of academic ability is explained by the great man himself (I’ve visited his grave) in his own book about his early life!
Well then to continue, did you know earlier this year, UNICEF put the UK last in a league table of children’s well-being amongst 21 industrialised nations?
Given that as a fact, is it really surprising that many UK teens find adolescence so difficult?
Anyway, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, isn’t rubbishing UNICEF’s verdict, instead, he’s trying to do something positive about it by launching a public consultation which will appear on the Department for Children, Schools and families e-consultation website.
The public will be asked questions like “How can we keep young people out of trouble?”
Hmm, I say get to the roots of the problem, which is partly to do with big businesses being too greedy for the good of our society.
I’ve mentioned some of these ideas before. Unethical alcoholic drinks manufacturers, food tampering and additives, throwaway plastic packaging, violent PC games, obnoxious gangsta rap music helping to promote gun crime, illegal drugs.
Everybody’s in on the act and trampling all over anything and anyone in their stampede to make the most profit!
Whether they’re legal or not, they couldn’t give a damn about their effect on young peoples behaviour or the problems it might cause for everyone in the future.
Wonder if I should copy this to the Prime Minister? He might start reading my blogs too. Now that would be pretty cool!
10 Comments
Shakespeare didn’t spell his name differently on occasion because of educational difficulties. In his time the rules of spelling were less formal - so it wasn’t considered important how you spelt your name.
As far as Churchill’s academic prowess was concerned, within the context of a) the academic pressure of a traditional English public school, and b)the expectations of his aristocratic family, it’s true that he wasn’t considered a high flyer but we mustn’t confuse this and his own modesty with a genuine inability. By today’s lax standards and with the hyperbole of grade inflation, believe me he would have been an A* student.
Report abuse
it is not easy being a teen???
i agree, but it is not any harder than it was 30 years ago.
many things you mention are inner city problems they have always been there always will no matter what any party trys to do about it.
food additives there may be a point there, or it could be just an excuse for parents who are not bright enough to bring up there children to be decent members of society.
we have a country full of people who expect and demand luxury’s and there children get pushed asside in there quest to get it, debt is high becouse people delude themselve’s 15k-30k a year don’t make you well off but thats what these people earn and live like there on 200k a year ,britain has become full of fur coat no knickers family’s who’s family values are money, 2 new cars , 3 holidays a year, parents with an attitude i want my time away from the kids , me oh and me .
thats why teens do have a hard time which is slightly different from 30 years ago , now its new trainers , mobile phones. 30 years ago it was spotts, and getting a girl friend or boyfriend but both were just as worrying as todays problems .
Report abuse
I agree - it must be tough being a teenager but as an adult who has commented on this before I can see massive differences between when I was a teenager (which was only about 10 years ago!) and what teenagers have to put up with now.
Most teenagers create their own problems, i.e get involved in anti-social behaviour, drink underage etc but there are other strong factors involved in this which DO need to be considered and not rubbished.
Growing up is a hard thing - fact, the difference between now and 30 years ago is that the idea of what makes a person happy is very different. Years ago, it would have been a decent group of friends, a good job and or education and a good family life with food on the table . Nowadays its all about image, who is cooler than who, who is ‘badder’ than who and who can get away with the most. If these are the ideals that most kids are aspiring to, then no wonder we have the social ills that we suffer from.
Both of the previous comments make some pertinent points insofar that some teenagers have this ‘me, me, me’ attitude and lack the moral intelligence to get out of that way of thinking. The blame for this is not only with corporations intent on making money but also with the Government and dare I say it, the doorstep of the parents.
Until this changes, nothing else will.
Report abuse
I was a teenager in the 1990s and all the ideas you mention above (alcohol aimed at younger adults, violent computer games, etc) all existed then too. However I didn’t cause any trouble and was respectful to my elders. Though I completely agree that all those things above should be removed, blaming pressures of society is a poor excuse for bad behaviour.
Let’s stop giving kids sorry excuses for their own bad behaviour. Whether 13 or 16 they know right from wrong.
Report abuse
I think she’s pretty bang on in what she says. Theres a lack of respect these days and people tend to think about themselves, with regards to companies making a tidy profit even if it means jepodising the way society acts. Food companies adding things to their food to make it taste better knowing full well it can give a kid ADHD. It’s parents aswell being too soft..kids get away with anything these days. Saying that..kids should know right from wrong!
Report abuse
But homas - does ADHD actually exist or is it a label which justifies and excuses bad behaviour?
We’ve all known that eating crap food, too much sugar and fizzy drinks, makes some people more hyperactive than others. Imagine constantly eating this with no other nutritional input - its bound to affect your behaviour long term - this can be rectified by eating properly, a good balance of fresh fruit and vegetables with an equal balance of meat and fish, plenty of water and cut out the sugary snacks and lethal fizzy drinks. The idea is not to stick a label on it and medicate it!
This is my opinion by the way, not fact but Im just offering another viewpoint.
Report abuse
You just cant compare the sheer volume of information that kids are bombarded with every day compared to 20 years ago! The amount of advertising, entertainment and kid specific messages being sent out just doesnt compare! (how many kids tv channels were there 20 years ago? now there are plenty - with millions of messages bombarding growing brains constantly)
And what of the parents bringing up these kids? The family values they were raised up on are now frowned upon and seen as ‘wrong’. Parents today are not really allowed to raise their own children according to traditional values and instead our nanny state or tv does it for them.
Report abuse
I am 35 and I absolutely agree with Rhian. Also, society HAS shaped the way this generation has developed and we will continue to form the way the next generation grow up and develop too. We are dictated to daily in many forms, adults, children, teens we are all bombarded! Of course things are different, sadly, society is greedier and more selfish and morals are being lost. Things will come to a head I think soon and something will have to give, and with the spelling thing…at least she isnt talking in text talk like alot of young people do these and THINK its ok to do that!
Report abuse
i think its really hard being a teenager. They are always under so much pressure to do well and all the media can say is how bad they have been rather then comment on the good things. Exams have got harder and parents should learn to respect how hard they are! peer pressure is also with us today and there a lot of people who are good but have been basically forced into taking drugs and drinking!
BE OPEN MINDED AND THING ABOUT WHAT THEY FEEL ABOUT IT ALLL!
Report abuse
I completely agree with you all! It is definetely not easy being a TEENAGER. I am almost 30 yrs old. You know, I can look back now and see that I was wrong. But, at the time, I thought that I was always right in my decisions. I didn’t see why my parents would say no, or why others would frown on the things that we would do. After the fact, there is a completely different view. My only suggestion to teenagers is to just be careful in what you do. If you cannot go to your parents, find another adult that you can trust. I am a step parent of a teen who lives with us over 1200 miles from her mom, and I stress to her to come to me for anything. I was not a very bad teenager. I never went to jail, didn’t get pregnant at an early age, and I was respectful to my elders as well. However, I did do some stupid things that I regret now. Think about your decisions and where they will lead you. Someday, you will look back and your decisions you made will have an effect on your life. Good Luck Rhian and you other teens out there!
Report abuse