Contemporary society presents the teenager as a low self-esteemed person who is put under many stereotypes. There are many stereotypes of teenagers such as, being a rebel, lazy, unfocused, but focused on material items. For instance, teenagers are pressured to behave like the stereotypical teenager, a teen blogger explains, “For a handful of teenagers, the effect of stereotyping makes them feel pressure into behaving like a stereotypical teenager. For example, some people do drugs and alcohol because they are expected to by society’s stereotypes, so someone may think, “Oh, I am a teenager now, I guess because other people are drinking then I have to as well.” Society seems to label all teenagers as “rebel, lazy, unfocused”, yet not every teenager is like that. We may rely on what others may think of us just to fit it because we don’t have the self-confidence to be able to be our own person. Society has taught us to follow the crowd and do the “cool” things that will help us get friends. Teens just want to be able to find who we are, but we stop each other from doing that because of these stereotypes society has set for us. We all want to find out purpose in this world, but we all take different routes to find or way through life. We may explore in different ways, but we were all made to find ourselves along the journey and ignore what society has set for us.
Works Cited:
"A Stereotypical Teenager?" Web log post. Teen Ink. Web. 20 May 2014.
<http://www.teenink.com/opinion/discrimination/article/150008/A-Stereotypical-Teenager/>.
“Teen PSA: Proving the Stereotypes Wrong.” YouTube. YouTube, 16 June 2008. Web. 14
May 2014.
"A Stereotypical Teenager?" Web log post. Teen Ink. Web. 20 May 2014.
<http://www.teenink.com/opinion/discrimination/article/150008/A-Stereotypical-Teenager/>.
“Teen PSA: Proving the Stereotypes Wrong.” YouTube. YouTube, 16 June 2008. Web. 14
May 2014.