Examination of Teenage Lifestyles
Examination of Teenage Lifestyles
Many adults say that teens live a frivolous life of friends and parties. Times have changed since these adults were teens themselves and the constant pressures from parents, other adults, school, and friends have changed also. The time era, changes in lifestyle, and emotional pressures have been drastically altered to almost unbearable for today’s teens.
The changes in time are very important when talking about the difference in teen stress. In the years of the twentieth century, back in ancient times, when adults today were once teenagers there were fewer things to worry about. In the fifties it was the “Leave It to Beaver” era where most mothers stayed at home to clean, fathers came home happy everyday, and the kids always had a good day at school. They seemed to have no stress. In the sixties peace and war changed the lives of kids to parties and drugs. And in the seventies disco, platforms, and paten leather suits ruled it all. It was as though the responsibilities of getting good grades and family and friend obligations were last on the priority list. Life before hitting twenty was fun and “party time” for those teens. Today teens have stress put on them twenty-four hours a day. The new and improved pressures are very different from those times.
In the fifties it was very uncommon for adults to get divorced. Teens didn’t have to worry about with which parent they would have to live. In the sixties and seventies it became a little more popular. But now half the population is either divorced or remarried. The thought of parents getting divorced or remarried can seriously damage a child’s emotional well-being by having the child in the court or by having to choose which parent to live with. With this stress on their shoulders grades go down and so does the effort that goes into the sports.
Another factor is the plagues of the 21st century that weren’t around in the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Some of these include AIDS and HIV. These diseases did not appear as wide spread until the seventies. All teens worry about the spread of these deadly diseases. Some of these teens already have to live with these diseases every day and...