Chapter 18

The young always have the same problem
 - how to rebel and conform at the same time.  
They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.  

~Quentin Crisp

I am genuinely baffled with present day teenagers.  

I'm not even a decade older than most but it seems like there's this generation gap that keeps widening and I need to watch my step.

Last weekend I had a conversation with my cousin about how "grown" our teenagers look. Gone are the days where a clean, young face is appreciated.  Or that awkward pubescent transition phase where a girl's body is becoming a woman's body, unsure about what to wear without overexposing so the clothes fit just right but not too tight.

Now I can't even guess who 30 or who's 15. 

Every woman looks the same to me ...... except the geezers with failed attempts of Botox.

I went to buy a Lotto ticket last week and the clerk asked me my age. I replied "24" and he still had his doubts and asked for my ID. He gave my ID one long stare and calculated my age. My ID was returned with a "God bless you." At that time, my eyeliner has worn out, I had a bright green North Face bookbag and my energy levels were on E, so I probably looked underage. 

It's amusing that at some point in our lives we wish to look younger but when we have that youth, we rush to look older and do the things older people do. All for what? Some bragging rights? 

Today I was reading the news about Courtney Stodden, the "teen bride" of Doug Hutchison. She's barely 18 and with all the makeup she has on, on any given day she looks like she's going on 30. Who made it okay or even acceptable for someone her age to look like that? I was literally shaking my head in disapproval as I was clicking through her photo gallery.

Besides looks, the behavior and manners of these teenagers leave us hopeless for the future. 

I saw the video of Penelope Soto, a teen attending a hearing for possession of Xanax. The fact that was she was abusing Xanax warrants another discussion but her erratic answers to the judge sentencing her was just surreal. No fear of authority whatsoever and for that her defiance and sassy remarks earned her 30 days in county jail. 

Not only would I have been scared for my life to even fathom the reaction my mom would have if I called from jail but to add insult to the injury and say I disrespected a judge?! 

Where did that gut wrenching trepidation go?

All these unanswered questions presents as a unique challenge not only to society but to myself.

I've had failed attempts at mentoring the youth and that bothers me. I want to make an impact, I want to show these teenagers their potentials.

As much as I cringe with the thought of it, it excites me even more to want to pursue adolescent medicine.  To have a teenager come to your medical office speaks volumes. There's something wrong in which can't be pushed aside any longer. This is the point in which their veil of indestructibility comes down and their vulnerability shows. 

Lesson Learned: As adults, we question whose fault it is that our teens have become this way. This game of pointing fingers needs to rapidly end. It takes a tribe to raise a child. It's all our social responsibility to steer the youth in the right direction or we're doing a disservice to our future.