Although it is considered that adolescents’ responsibilities are somewhat smaller in scope and significance than those which adults have, the challenges they encounter throughout every single day of their lives may be unbearable. Excess public expectations, parental and peer criticism, necessary to comply with various social roles are just a few reasons contributing to various teenage psychological difficulties. In particularly challenging situations, positive and trustful communication with peers and adults serves as the primary source of support. Thus, its role in the promotion of adolescents’ well-being is critical. Based on this, we will analyze the roles and self-perceptions of teenagers, as well as adults’ perceptions of adolescents, and the parent-child communication styles that are prevalent in the society to understand what communication patterns and contexts of support have greater potential to stimulate the development of sound identities and welfare in teenagers.
Social Pressure and Roles of Adolescents
In “The Triple Bind,” Hinshaw and Kranz examine how average teenagers are perceived in the modern culture and how various social expectations, mediated via parental, peer, and teachers’ criticism, affect children’s behaviors and overall psychological conditions. The authors state that nowadays teenagers are expected to be ambitious and successful in every area of life, and in the case of failure or even a little mistake they start feeling guilty and unhappy because of the criticism and unacceptance by others. When trying to enrich their academic, personal, and athletic lives, children frequently encounter unmanageable levels of pressure which, at some point, may result in a psychological burnout. Moreover, it is observed that in many cases girls are exposed to greater public pressure and contradictory expectations. They should show excellent results in education and career and, at the same time, fulfill their traditional social roles of wives and mothers, and reveal their innate feminine beauty and qualities in all possible ways1. The perceived contradictions and unconformity between social expectation and personal interests is detrimental to individual health and feeling of psychological security.
Parents represent the primary category of caregivers. However, frequently they fail to provide sufficient psychological and emotional support to their children and often do not listen to them. It is possible to say that the paternalist relationship style is prevalent in contemporary society. The given interaction framework excludes collaboration as such and implies interactions built according to the “I win – you lose” principle2. The critical distance between the generations is clearly defined in the paternalist relationships whereas parents are placed in the center of these relationships, while children are marginalized, and their interests and needs are suppressed.
The role of a parent implies that caregivers will always guide and lead their children, establish mutual trust, and efficiently manage interpersonal conflicts3. However, excess criticism and strict parental orientation towards their children’s achievements serve as the primary source of pressure for adolescents and trigger distress and anxiety in them. Of course, when children’s interests are not considered, and their aspirations are substituted by the parentally approved activities, they likely to see their lives as worthless and insignificant. As a result, there is no engagement and no hope. At the same time, community support may play a substantial role in managing crises and help adolescents cope with life challenges.
In “Nobody Cries When We Die,” Patrick Reyes describes how the relationships with God and the studies in the local all-boys Christian school helped him to withstand domestic violence and other misfortunes he encountered when living in the gang-infested neighborhood during the adolescence4. The boy underwent his parents’ divorce. His mother never talked about it with him or his brothers, and when she decided to move in with a new boyfriend, Patrick had to face this as an inevitable fact although he did not like the idea of living with an unfamiliar person who, moreover, turned out to be violent and intolerant. In situations like this, the level of stress experienced by children can be overwhelming, and, in a lot of cases, it reaches the critical point. Moreover, when facing violence and living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, many children choose the path which is the easiest to ascend on, which is involved in the crime and gangs. The case described in the reading reveals the significance of community and religious support for the teenagers in crises as it helped Patrick to go the other way in life. Such support may help children to develop personal mechanisms of coping with conflicts and problems, as well as provide sufficient information and knowledge needed for building self-awareness and choosing a constructive and positive mode of life.
Conclusion
Despite their social, cultural, and economic backgrounds, all modern teenagers are exposed to significant pressure. The inability to express own opinions and realize personal needs and interests often results in psychological difficulties which can be aggravated if a teenager perceives a high level of criticism and has no sources of support. Moreover, adverse conditions can develop even easier if a person lives in an unfavorable environment. Based on this, teenage problems should be recognized by the family and community members, as well as the society as a whole, because recognition leads to the improvement of communication, dissemination of risk information, and increasing the accessibility to various sources of community assistance. While a certain level of parental authority is right, parents, educators, and other adults who have the power of influencing children should learn to collaborate with young individuals, listen to their voices and take into account their interests. In this way, it will be possible to develop a sense of meaningfulness in their lives and show children that they matter.
Bibliography
Clark, Chap. Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011.
Hinshaw, Stephen, and Rachel Kranz. The Triple Bind: Saving our Teenage Girls from Today’s Pressures. New York: Ballantine, 2009.
Nakata, Sana. Childhood Citizenship, Governance and Policy: The Politics of Becoming Adult. New York: Routledge, 2015.
Reyes, Patrick, and Jimmy Santiago Baca. Nobody Cries When We Die: God, Community, and Surviving to Adulthood. Saint Louis: Chalice Press, 2016.
Footnotes
1 Stephen Hinshaw and Rachel Kranz, The Triple Bind: Saving Our Teenage Girls from Today’s Pressures (New York: Ballantine, 2009), 48.
2 Sana Nakata, Childhood Citizenship, Governance, and Policy: The Politics of Becoming Adult (New York: Routledge, 2015), 30-31.
3, Chap Clark, Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011).
4 Patrick Reyes and Jimmy Santiago Baca, Nobody Cries When We Die: God, Community, and Surviving to Adulthood (Saint Louis: Chalice Press, 2016), 4-6.