EVERYTHING
FOR YOUR FAMILY
Teen Years
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You hear it all the time, but you're not so sure it's true. There are few teens who aren't glad to be growing up, but with age comes a few unwelcome responsibilities. What 18-year-old guy doesn't feel a sudden, satisfying rush of manliness as he registers for the Selective Service? The feeling has been considerably dampened as talk of a national draft increases. And though the newfound freedom we enjoy is a welcome relief, it's hard to comprehend that my mistakes will follow me for years, when they never much mattered before. A trip to the principal's office yesterday is a night at county jail tomorrow. And that's pretty heady stuff. It's hard to avoid the feeling that youth in America isn't what it used to be. Once, we went to college to pursue serious academic work at the highest levels. Now, 13-year-olds spend their nights at the Princeton Review, gearing up for a test four years from now that most agree reflects little on a student's intelligence. The ability to take what you want has been lost to armies of scattergram-wielding guidance counselors, who warn that anything less than four years of science study will land you at Southwest North Dakota State. And let's not get started on APs. Think of the huge swath of our popular culture consisting of films, stories and novels about disaffected adults trapped in corporate-prisoner lives. Their popularity suggests many identify with the desire, however impossible, to break out of the mold and, quite simply, have some fun. I only hope that this phenomenon doesn't spread to our teenagers. But I'm not sure it won't. Still, the need for perspective. It's hard to take any of these issues too seriously in looking at the average 18-year-old's life around the world. In Japan and Korea, students study on schedules that make our high schools look like preschools. In much of the world, coming of age means an end to education, and settling down as a husband, father, and a worker. We watch young boys throw stones at Israeli tanks, and recently read with horror about an 18-year-old girl who became one of the youngest suicide bombers in history. It's impossible for most of us to imagine making a choice like that at any point, let alone on the cusp of adulthood. Around the world, crossing into adulthood means many different things. Though Orange County youth lead relatively privileged lives, growing up means a series of unwelcome burdens, and that failing to meet these burdens will have a serious impact on our lives. It's hard to imagine that it's over, but the world beckons, and it's inevitable: You're not a kid anymore. Jeremy Beecher of Corona del Mar was a summer intern at Churm Publishing, Inc. He has started his studies in journalism at USC |
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