TEEN LIFE: ECSTACY OR DEVASTATION

By Samreen, 11, Gulf Indian High School

Wondering to myself as the days passed by for my 13th birthday I rejoiced, “Finally I’m going to become a teen”. Little did I know of the consequences and everything that came along with being a teen. The thought itself of becoming a teen left me in a state of bliss, which eventually was shattered. To me becoming a teen meant a little access to freedom to do things your way, hanging out with friends and having your own opinions voiced. What followed after becoming a teen wasn’t what I had in my mind. As everything has its own pros and cons, so does teenage.

The first thing that I ever learnt since entering this exclusive teenage of mine is that everyone has expectations of you. It’s more like becoming an ATM with the only difference that instead of money people want something productive or the other out of you. If you have any sibling(s), be it younger/elder, then it is really strenuous to gulp down the fact that your life is nothing less than a trip to Hell. We teens are always expected to set a benchmark for our siblings so they could follow it too. But what anybody doesn’t grasp is that how can we possibly be a role model to others while juggling with stress, depression, peer pressure, mood swings… (And the list only goes on). Just how on earth can we influence others’ lives when ours is on a rocky road rail? We all commit mistakes, some terrible and some downright silly. But mistakes do want to occur especially, with us. Everybody is primed,claws ready to prance on us at the sight of mere mistake when we are only shouting and screaming internally, “It’s the hormones that are to be blamed. It’s not my fault!” (rhetorically). These pleas are never heard, firstly because they are never given a voice, and secondly nobody ever understands.

All of us teens have and are going through hard times as such, there are times when we transform into Hulk, times when chocolates are painkillers for some blows too harsh, times when we wish life had a rewind button and times when we lust after being in Never land like Peter Pan for all of it to never have taken place so we never grew up and be forever young. Anybody who was under the misty veil that teen years are some of the vibrant times of your life then I’m sorry but this is the hideous truth and all we ever do is abide by it, wait in solitude for time to fly by.