Entries in Autonomy (8)
The Pursuit of "Cool".
June 26, 2008 
The pursuit of coolness is a top priority in the lives of most teens. I mean, when I was a teen my friends and I committed significant amounts of time and thought to doing the stuff that we thought was really cool and I think I can be so bold as to say that this is a universal thing that has always, and will always, exist. Frankly, you will have a hard time convincing me that, at any one time, there isn’t a teenager somewhere in the world asking some form of the question “what is cool?”. This article is my attempt at busting through the unrealistic definitions of cool to outline what it takes to be genuinely cool. I think I am cool enough to at least give this a try.
Are teens really that bad?
June 5, 2008 
As a teenager I remember reading innumerable news stories about how crazy my peers and I were and how teens were a troubled group of sexually promiscuous, drug addicted party animals that cared about nothing but themselves. I always found this to be a little off putting because I knew that I wasn’t crazy, sexually promiscuous or drug addicted and I was pretty sure that the majority of my peers weren’t either. But I still wondered if I was an abnormal teen that was just out of the loop about what was cool. This bothered me because like most teenagers I desired to fit in and be normal. I wondered, “Am I expected to experiment with drugs and have sex? Am I uncool if I don’t?”
Shaping the World by Shaping the Lives of Teens
May 30, 2008 
As I research teen culture I often come across headlines that say things like: “1 in 4 Teen Girls has an STD,” or “Over 2 million American Teens are Depressed.”
To be honest, when I read those types of things I can’t help but feel like this generation of young people (which I am technically a part of) is hopeless. I mean, as compared to previous generations, today’s teens seem to be the laziest, most sexually promiscuous, drug addicted, morally bankrupt group America has ever seen.
But, just as I begin to really worry about the future of today’s youth and, in turn, the future of our society, I am reminded that this generation also has an amazing amount of potential to change the world. It is this potential that I’d like to focus on in coming weeks.
Experts say Children Today Growing up too Fast
May 14, 2008 
Children today are growing up too fast and acting like adults at a very early age, child health experts say.
With television and the internet playing an increasing role in their lives, children are often exposed to ideas and issues they cannot comprehend fully. They are coming under influences that were kept away from them in the past , and sometimes their parents are to blame.
Parenting teens doesn't need to be a battle
May 9, 2008 
I was 14 when I thought I had life figured out. Even though I couldn’t drive, vote, shave or do anything else attributed to adults, I thought I was pretty grown up. Unfortunately, when I tried to explain to my mom and dad that I was ready to make decisions like an adult, they didn’t believe me. Thus began my battle for autonomy. For the next 4 years I waged war against my parents trying to convince them that I had all the answers and they fought back by teaching me I had a lot left to learn.
Teens aren't crazy, They're just being Teens.
May 2, 2008 
“I’m seventeen and I’m crazy. My uncle says the two always go together. When people ask your age, he said, always say seventeen and insane.”
The other day while reflecting on my teen years I remembered this phrase from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and I realized that when I was a teenager I did a lot of really stupid and dangerous things. It probably seemed like I was crazy to my parents but in reality I was just being a teen.
Of course it’s tempting to think adolescence is a period of temporary insanity. How else do you explain young people who don’t seem to grasp the dangers of driving too fast, driving drunk, having unprotected sex, experimenting with drugs, and binge drinking? Do they think they are invincible?
Teens Need Boundaries and Communication when it comes to dating
May 2, 2008 
When I was 14 I thought I was a dating and relationship expert. Equipped with inside information about girls (from my sister’s Seventeen magazine) and a number of relationship lessons learned from various romantic comedies, I was convinced that I completely understood dating and romance. 10 years later, I’m married and more aware than ever that that simply was not true. At 14 my understanding of what went into a healthy relationship was severely lacking. What I needed and what teens today still need is involved parents who can openly provide honest answers, guidance and boundaries when it comes to sex and dating.
Closing the generation gap
April 1, 2008 
Today’s generation of teenagers is both valuable and vulnerable. Corporate America knows this because to them teens represent $150 billion in spending each year that can be influenced through exploiting their desires and insecurities. To many adults, today’s youth are important because we know that they are literally our future. Because of this it is imperative that we as a society advocate for the well-being of those who are transitioning through the precarious years of adolescence. But before we can help teens we must first understand the cultural environment that they live in.